Almost 3 years I reviewed the first batch of Arran ‘The Bothy’ which is Arran’s offering of a young yet fast matured cask strength whisky to the masses. It’s matured 1st Fill American Oak Ex-Bourbon Barrels before a legnthy finish in small (Quarter size) casks.

This third batch was bottled a year ago in September 2017 at 53.2%. 13,800 bottles were circulated from this batch and some are still available although the majority of the Arran ‘The Bothy’ bottles in the markets are from the 4th batch.

Arran ‘The Bothy’ Quarter Cask Batch #3 (53.2%, £46/€44.95)

Nose: Somewhat muted at first so lets give it a few minutes to open up. Then we have pears, apricot and honey sweetness. Slowly rocks dust note comes up, baked pears, cake dough and vanilla, After a while it gets fruiter and sweeter.

Palate: Limestone and rocks dust, honey, tons of sweet pears, honey, sugar iclings, spiciness with heavy dose of white pepper, sweet honeyed fruit cake.

Finish: Medium length, lingering sweet fruit cake, honey, spices, rocks dust and white pepper

Thoughts: Just like I said on the 1st batch – it’s a rock solid whisky. But this time it feels more matured with stronger fruitiness which is a good advantange over that old batch. Still a damn good session dram enjoy when sitting down with friends.