03/02/2025 Arran

Arran d.1996 (55.6%, La Maison du Whisky Belgique M & H Cask Selection, Domaine Olivier Guyot Fixin Wood Finish, C#96/1372, 144b, b#13): the corrugated card box suggests an official bottling, but no: although, in all likelihood, the official bottler bottled this on behalf of La Maison du Whisky Belgique, nowhere does it state Arran Distillers as having anything to do with this. Nose: fresh-and-briny sea air, a splay of sea spray, or micro-droplets vapourised at the foot of a waterfall. It then becomes more wine-y, tertiary (argh!), with hay, earth and decaying grape skins. The latter is fermenting, and it teases vinegar, in truth. Hay infusion, nettle broth, and red-wine vinegar. Deeper nosing hints at butter biscuits dunked in a glass of red wine (think of VIP from Lover Come Back). Wine and vinegar come to dominate, leaving biscuits and sea air behind, and entertain shy muesli in the distance. The second nose is even more tertiary, autumn mushrooms, oily pine cones, humus, and the fresh trail of a wild boar. It is all forestry and wine sauces, which suggests a hunt, yet one without a kill. "The best kind," some may say. Old corkboards, cardboard boxes stored in an earthen-floored cellar, and red wine, always red wine. Mouth: it is initially faintly fruity, but the tongue quickly finds itself wrestling the acidity and bitterness of a flawed red wine. That is not to say it has no redeeming quality -- pressed dark grapes make for a decent fruit juice, -- but, all in all, it is difficult. Earth rocks up, parched and crusty after weeks of drought, and oily musky animal skins (wild cat, fox). It has twigs and dried vine leaves too, neither of which is a positive addition, here. The second sip comes closer to white-wine vinegar, so stripping it is. Pan-seared mushrooms, the pan then deglazed with white-wine vinegar. This is the juice resulting from that deglazing. Finish: finally something pleasant: prune syrup, Dr. Pepper, and dark-fruit jellies. Blackberry jam, blackcurrant jelly, preserved dark cherries, and mere traces of liquorice boot laces. It is a medium-long, fruity finish. The second gulp has obvious dark-purple cough drops (Ricola), blackcurrant Lemsip, mulled wine. Indeed, we now find cassia bark and ground cloves to complement the berries and prune syrup -- and it is all warm, as if infused. A spicy bitterness remains at the death, very clearly sumac and ground cloves. The finish saves this from a right savaging, but it is a challenging dram anyway. 5/10 (Thanks for the sample, Psycho)