Arran 12 Year Old Plantation Rum 2007 Single Malt Review

Picture courtesy of Whiskybase

Arran is a distillery that I really haven’t spent enough time with. To be fair that is a statement that I could use regarding a lot of distilleries. There is only so much time in a week and I only have so much money to spend on whisky and so brands and distilleries can easily get overlooked. 

I have tasted a few Arran releases before and was found of their old 10 year old before the rebrand a few years ago. That 10 year old suggested this was a distillery that definitely warranted attention. Sadly now I’m in the States I’m not really sure how easy this distillery will be to find but if I ever return to the Emerald Isle I’ll make a concerted effort to acquaint myself with Arran more fully.

Let's Taste!

Arran 12 Year Old Plantation Rum 2007 55.6% abv £70

2020 Distillery Exclusive – ex-bourbon and 4 years rum, 254 btls

Nose: Sweet & tropical – banana’s foster, mango, pineapple, candy floss and fruit salad sweets. Tangerines. Vanilla, cinnamon and some white pepper. Water brings out milk chocolate and some floral notes.

Palate: Vanilla cream, caramel covered grilled banana, pineapple, orange oil, new leather and white pepper. Digestive biscuits, cinnamon lozenges. Towards the end we get some dry hay vegetal notes as well as drying oak. Water means the body dissipates a little but brings out more spiced and cream soda.

Finish: Medium length with tropical fruit notes, oak, nutmeg and some cocoa too.

Score: 7 out of 10

Overall: A tasty little number this. Very sweet and fruit forward and I’d wager that the rum cask finish is to answer for that. Surprisingly soft considering the abv which means it was dangerously drinkable.

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