Category Archives: Arran

Arran, BenRiach, Benromach, Catoctin Creek, Field Trip!, GlenDronach, Glenrothes, Highland Park, Kilchoman, Smokehead, Tuthilltown

Jewish Whisky Company’s Whisky Jewbilee 2012 event in NYC — it’s coming Thursday, October 25th!

Hosted by the Jewish Whisky Company and Single Cask Nation, the first annual charitable Whisky Jewbilee is fast approaching!!

For those unable to attend WhiskyFest NYC this year (due to it landing on Shabbat), this is your chance to taste some of Scotland, Ireland, and America’s finest whiskies.

Kosher catering by Ari White of Gemstone Catering, food under Star-K.

Click this link for more information and to buy tickets. 

This charitable whisky event engagement is limited to 250 attendees and is your chance to taste some fantastic whiskies (as shown below):

Distilleries and brands at the event, while not limited to, are listed below:

  • Arran
  • Balcones
  • BenRiach
  • Benromach
  • Catoctin Creek
  • Chieftain’s Range
  • Corsair
  • FEW Spirits
  • GlenDronach
  • Glenrothes
  • Gordon MacPhail
  • Highland Park
  • High West
  • Hirsch Selection
  • Hudson Real American Whiskeys
  • Kilchoman
  • Koval
  • Old Potrero
  • Single Cask Nation
  • Slieve Foy
  • Smokehead
  • Smooth Ambler
  • …plus more to be announced!!

The pouring list is still being developed, however, here is a preliminary list of whiskies:

Arran
10 years old
14 years old

Balcones
Balcones True Blue Whisky
Balcones Single Malt
Balcones Brimstone Smoked Whisky

The BenRiach
10 years old
12 years old
16 years old
20 years old
Dark Rum Cask
PX Cask
**Alistair Walker is scheduled to be at the Whisky Jewbilee!

Catoctin Creek
Roundstone Rye
Mosby’s Spirit
Watershed Gin

Chieftain’s Range
Craigellachie 21 years old
Glen Keith 17 years old

Corsair
Corsair Wry Moon Unaged Rye Whiskey
Corsair Triple Smoke

FEW Spirits
FEW Rye Whiskey
FEW Bourbon Whiskey
“Special cask selections”

GlenDronach
12 years old
15 years old
18 years old
33 years old
**Alistair Walker is scheduled to be at the Whisky Jewbilee!

The Glenrothes
Select Reserve
Alba Reserve
1995 Vintage
1988 Vintage
Editors Cask
…maybe others
**Ronnie Cox is scheduled to be at the Whisky Jewbilee!

Gordon and MacPhail
Benromach 10 years old
Benromach 30 years old
Highland Park 24 years old
Old Pulteney 21 years old
Scapa 11 years old
Tormore 15 years old

Highland Park
Highland Park 12 years old
Highland Park 15 years old
Highland Park 18 years old
Highland Park 30 years old

High West
Double Rye
Rendezvous Rye
Son of Bourye
Campfire Whiskey
Silver Whiskey – Western Oat
American Prairie Reserve Bourbon
“Something special”

Hirsch and Slieve Foy
Hirsch Small Batch Reserve
Slieve Foy Irish 8 years old Single Malt

Hudson Real American Whiskeys
New York Corn Whiskey
Baby Bourbon
Four Grain Bourbon
Hudson Single Malt
Manhattan Rye Whiskey
Half Moon Orchard Gin

Jewish Whisky Company’s Single Cask Nation™
Arran 12 years old
Kilchoman 4 years old
BenRiach Heavily Peated 17 years old

Kilchoman
Machir Bay
100% Islay (2nd Edition)

Koval
Koval Raksi Millet
Koval Midwest Wheat
Koval Rye Chicago
Lion’s Pride Rye
Lion’s Pride Dark Rye
Lion’s Pride Dark Millet
Lion’s Pride 47th Ward
Koval Rose Hip liqueur
Koval Chrysanthemum Honey liqueur
Koval Ginger liqueur
Koval Coffee liqueur
Koval Jasmin liqueur

Old Potrero
Old Potrero 18th Cetury Rye
Old Potrero Straight Rye

Smokehead

Smooth Ambler
Smooth Ambler Yearling
Smooth Ambler Bourbon
Smooth Ambler Rye
This is a charitable event with a portion of the evening’s proceeds being donated to charity.

Arran, Autumn, Let's celebrate!, Springtime

Arran’s devilish new limited release: The Devil’s Punch Bowl

 

Islands Region – 52.3%ABV – $129 – this stuff is selling out quickly – limited to 6,660 bottles.  Yeah, that’s right.  6,660 bottles.

If I were giving out packaging awards today, Arran’s Devil’s Punch Bowl would win it in a heart beat.  Hands down, this is some of the coolest packaging for a whisky in a *LONG* time.  And it’s not absurd awesome, just awesome-awesome.

Dude!:

And in the open position:

All up close and personal-like:

Even closer and even more personal:

Booga-booga!!

And here is the whisky make up (which, to be honest, is the most important part of the packaging):

Have you fallen in love yet?  Yes or no, here’s my review of the whisky:

On the nose — Classic Arran components:  Fresh apples (though brighter here compared to other Arran whiskies), salty (though slightly less salty than many Arran whiskies) and a touch pungent.

Quite bright, punchy and alive yet a touch buttery.

A strange thought comes to mind: Not sure why but this reminds me a bit of the Macallan 15yo Fine Oak (I rather like that one).  Hmm…

Now a touch of peat sneaks up on me.  Burnt things hither and thither; all natural-like and woody.

Burnt sugar over medjool dates (the sherry components start to come through).  Hint of cherry stones…  A solid whisky so far!

On the mouth — Pow!  Bam!  Kaboom! and other 60’s Batman punch and kick sounds.

Bright and sharp yet not at all hot.

Firm peaty backbone.

Grilled apples, salted.  More burnt sugar.  Honied yet oh, so peppery.

Peppered apple sauce.  A nice mouthfeel.

Finish — One of my favorite Arran characteristics: a good, long finish.  This one is peaty and peppery with a bit of honey and sugar.

In sum —  Well, not what I expected.  Granted, I didn’t know what to expect as I chose to not read reviews or learn too much about this whisky.

On the rare occasions when they do peated whiskies, Arran doesn’t peat much beyond 20ppm.  Knowing this, I guessed correctly that this would not be a peat monster.  I had heard some off-comments about this whisky in that people expected “more”.  Maybe some (due to the whisky name and packaging) expected a fire blast or peat monster.

Me?  I think it’s a well constructed whisky that packs a wallop.  It’s deliciously tasty, invigorating and of great quality.

Well done, Mr. MacTaggart, you devilish dude you!

Special thanks to the good folks at ImpEx for the ample sample!

***But, can I have your whisky? Please?!***
Arran, Autumn, Springtime

The final in the Icons of Arran Series – The Golden Eagle

Islands region – 46% ABV – £41 (£34 excluding VAT – Value Added Tax) – not sold in US shops…

Let’s hear it for the fourth and final Icon of Arran bottling!

They started off with the “Peacock” then went onto the “Rowan Tree”.  “The Westie” did not have its tail between its legs when he appeared as the third Icon of Arran and following that one is this: The Golden Eagle.

If you look closely on any Arran bottle, you’ll see that, embossed in the glass of the bottles, there are birds.  Those birds are the famous Golden Eagles that nest themselves around the distillery.  On any given day, if you look up in the sky, you’ll see those beauties flying about.  They fly so strong and sure – gorgeous creatures and a fitting end the the title of the last Icon of Arran.

On the nose –  Incredibly soft (like sniffing the softness of a baby’s behind… sans the poop and such).

I detect and interesting mix of tangerines and light incense (sandalwood – again, light).

Baby aspirin (orange cream) followed by some pear candies and a tad spice of spice…

On the mouth – Great mouthfeel – very… Arran.  Very full/viscous.

This flavors here follow the lead of what I got on the nose – very soft and delicate, *subdued*.

The Arran apples are here in baked form (I often find apples in Arran whiskies).

Fresh rain on a spring day.

Reminiscent of many Arrans I’ve had but a much more restrained version. Like and aerated chocolate bar, if you catch my meaning… it’s still a chocolate bar but something is different about it, the flavors are held back/elusive.

Finish – Speaking of chocolate, there’s a touch of milk chocolate on the finish which, by the way, is medium in length.

In sum – This is such an easy going whisky!  Perfect on a cool spring night or a warm fall evening and a good entree for your friends that are scared to try Scotch whisky.

For me, I was hoping for a bit more presence for the final Icon – something that would go out in a bang.  Then again, perhaps the goal was to match the elegance of the Golden Eagles that fly about the Arran distillery.  If this is the case, Arran has met their goal.

Special thanks to JJY for the sample!  

Speaking of JJY, you can check out his review over at guidscotchdrink.com

 

A World of Discovery, Arran, Autumn

Arran Sassacaia Cask – Limited Edition Bottling

Islands region – 55%ABV – $90 | £43

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed and Arran (and G-d knows, I’ve reviewed quite a few Arran whiskies).  I’ve had a bottle of this Arran Sassacaia on my  shelf for a while and have been slowly, but surely, chipping away at it.

The first time I tried it was when I was in Scotland doing the JSMWS whisky tour with Jason Johnstone-Yellin and our two guests Meg & Mike.  Mike was the one that turned Jason onto the stuff and it was he, Mike, that turned me onto the stuff during a stop at the Craigellachie Hotel just outside of Elgin.

We put this Sassacaia cask whisky up against another distiller’s Sassacaia cask whisky and this Arran one blew the other one out of the water.  There was no real comparison.  This Arran is big and fresh and vibrant.  The other?  Not so much.  While I will not name the other whisky, I will tell you it was *not* the new Glenmorangie Artien – that whisky wasn’t even released when we did this side-by-side.

Here are the details on the Arran Sassacaia  Cask:

On the nose –  Like bathing your nose in a tub full of deep/dark tropical fruits (think passion fruit, persimmon, over-ripe cantaloupe and then a good bit of cherry which I know is not really tropical…).

A bit of a malty backbone.

Juicy juice grape juice (if there were a not so sugary version of it).

Some notes of rubber birthday ballons too.  That’s said in a very positive way.

It’s like a party in my nose.

A very vibrant smelling whisky.

On the mouth – Thick, deep and honied mouthfeel.

Noticeable notes of, you guessed, Sassicaia wine – cherries, cedar wood and even a bit of chocolate in there.

Cinnamon spice which quickly becomes drying.

A couple of sips later reveals an interesting hint (a tiny hint) of swimming pools on hot summer days.

Finish – Drying, long and filled with cherries and chewing tobacco.

In sum – Not a very Arran, Arran if you ask me.  Nice, well balanced and overall a very satisfying whisky.  However, I did not detect much of the Arran character that made me fall in love with their whiskies.  Not a complaint… it just makes me think about what percentage influence wood *really* has on whisky and what makes that percentage change from cask to cask.  This aside, when should you enjoy this one?  Well, I’d try to do it soon.  These bottles are hard to find!!

Big thanks goes out to Mike A for suggesting the whisky – big thanks goes out to Merwin’s for selling me their last bottle!

Arran

Good news for Arran whiskies in the USA!

Good news for those of us living in the US!  You can read the full detail below but the gist of it is that the Isle of Arran Distillers have signed on with a new importer for product into the US: Impex (known for importing Kilchomen, Smokehead, the Cheiftain’s range of Single Cask Whiskies and Isle of Skye blended whisky into the US).

The effective date is January 1, 2012

My hope, which I think will come to fruition, is that with this new deal with Impex (a company that KNOWS whisky), Arran will be bringing in more of their small release products such as the Icons of Arran range, Sleeping Warrior, 12yo cask strength, etc…  It will remain to be seen but Impex knows their stuff and knows the US whisky consumer.

Arran is in good hands.  Read the full details below.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd & ImpEx Beverages Inc

Trading Agreement Announcement

 

Press Announcement

 Isle of Arran Distillers Ltd, a dynamic force in the Scotch Whisky Industry is delighted to announce that effective January 1st 2012, their Single Malt and Blended Scotch will be imported into the United States by ImpEx Beverages Inc.

Andrew Hogan of Isle of Arran Distillers commented that “This agreement with ImpEx will bring us the brand building success that we seek at this stage in our development. I am delighted to have the chance to work with ImpEx, and to benefit from the experience that Ed Kohl and his team brings to the USA whisky market. “Hogan added that he “…looked forward to increased influence within the US market and this appointment was the best news possible prior to the busy holiday selling season. “

For ImpEx Beverages, Ed Kohl stated “We are delighted to represent this prestigious distillery in our portfolio of malt and blended whisky.  Isle of Arran is a new and innovative distillery who is offering an exciting range of single malts and blends to the whisky connoisseur who is looking for yet another new experience.  The combination of our two companies compliments each other extremely well as we move forward with our consumer tasting programs.  Mr. Hogan will also be a valued partner as we develop Isle of Arran in the U.S. Market.”