Arran Amarone Cask Finish Whisky, 70 cl, 300307

Product Information

First thing to note is that the colour of this whisky is not on the scale above! It has taken a lot of colour from the cask and is almost pink! Good for novelty value. This whisky has been matured exclusively in casks that held Amarone della Valpolicella, a dry Italian red wine. I’m not familiar with that wine, so I’ll just refer to it as “Valpo” henceforth, as that’s the popular name of my home town of Valparaiso. Some call it as the “Pink Whisky,” owing to its coral hue. I’d say it looks more like a light-copper whisky to which a few drops of merlot have been added. A bit cloudy as well, to let you know it’s not been chill filtered. Somehow, you know how this whisky is going to taste just by looking at it. I take a look at the Islands, encouraged by my friend's grabbing Talisker and see Arran Amarone Finish. I can only inform them that the Talisker 10 year old is in my opinion one of the best entry level single malts out there and that Talisker is one of my favorite distilleries.

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Nose: The red wine is there front and center. Although I have never had Amarone, I imagine it is rich, dark and earthy. I get notes of dark grape skin, dark chocolate, pomegranate, ripe orange peel, a tad bit of vanilla, and an "earthy" note to round things off. Almost like wet, composted leaves (in a good way). The purity of the water means that Arran can create a clean, sweet dram which is entirely natural and unadulterated. They never add caramel colouring or strip flavour out through chill filtration. Regardless of whether the Service offers the functionality to contribute, you are solely responsible and liable for any content and information that you create, upload, post, publish, link to, duplicate, transmit, record, display or otherwise make available on the Service or to other Members, such as chat messages, text messages, videos, audio, audio recordings, music, pictures, photographs, text and any other information or materials, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted (“Contributions”). Palate: Another one of those for which the taste is much less complex than the nose. Plenty of fire, but the flavors seem a little thin and buried by the heat. Watery grapes and bitter chocolate mostly. A little touch of sweet cream now and then. Definitely not an overwhelming array, but nothing here to dislike.Arran enjoys a warm microclimate, the atmosphere of sea breezes and clear mountain air, together with the warm flow of the Gulf Stream is ideal for the speedy maturation of single malts.

I bought this because I've found quality malts from Arran, and because an Amarone finish sounded appealing. It is not like other Arrans I've had, being rather rubbery and woody-- I wonder whether these notes come from the Amarone or earlier maturation. In any case, the nose and finish are not my style, and the overall woody oak-like influence it more than I would like. The best part is that wonderful palate entrance, which is well-balanced and juicy. Finish: Milk chocolate and cherries finish things off with a faint cereal note towards the very end. A luxurious Italian wine meets a complex and vibrant Scottish character - there is a lot to love and appreciate about this Single Malt and you will enjoy every dram. Without prejudice to the section Liability below, the Service may be temporarily unavailable during maintenance, updates, etc. We shall make reasonable efforts to inform you of any unavailability due to maintenance or updates.

Arran Amarone Cask Details

First up we have the Amarone cask finish. "Amarone della Valpolicella" is a red wine made with partially dried grapes in Valpolicella, Veneto, North-east Italy. Rumor is that this is aged in bourbon barrels for 8-9 years then "finished" in the wine casks for 8-12 months. This is bottled at a commendable 50% abv. Bottle has been open for 2 weeks and is 90% full. Neat in a Glencairn. This whisky spends around 8 years in bourbon casks before being transferred for 9 months to Amarone wine casks. The smell directly from the bottle strongly suggests grapes. When you pour a glass you see that the whisky is a pale but unmistakable pink hue, like strawberry Frutopia. Rest assured that this is the natural colour. It goes very cloudy with the addition of ice.

Nose: Rubber at first: rubbery cocoa, rubbery walnut oil. A faint sense of a next-day glass of merlot (which can share that rubberiness), and perhaps liquorice root. Otherwise quite light at first. Warming in the hand brings stewed raspberry to this rubbery mix. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.

The Arran Amarone Cask is matured in traditional oak casks over a number of years and is then "finished" in a selection of Amarone wine casks. The wine casks used in this bottling were sourced from an artisan producer of Amarone wine in the Veneto region of Italy. My brother in law grabs another Longrow 7 Year old Gaja Barolo Finish another try. God that's a nice whisky. One of my whisky friends, who'd just finished Ardbeg Galileo and proclaimed it brilliant then started looking for another whisky to sample. I thought I would go ahead and do this head to head while it's fresh on my mind. I'm not always into wine finishes, and the Arran Port cask was a bit of a letdown for me, especially when compared with their age-stated 10yo and (axed)14yo. But as I generally enjoy Arran I thought it was high time I gave the rest of these "cask finishes" a try. So tonight, I have sitting side by side in 2 different glasses, the Amarone Cask and the Sauternes cask. We deliver to a number of international destinations including the USA. Please use the 'Change Location' link above for an estimate in your local currency or find out more about international delivery