Arran The Bothy Quarter Cask Batch 2

Arran tasting night at The Oak Barrel, Sydney, July 12, 2019. Whisky #4. Nose: Fruity aromas (peach, apricot, and orange), honey, rich vanilla, madeira cake, and shortbread. There's a floral/incense aspect to the nose with lily-of-the-valley, jasmine, musk, sandalwood, and frankincense all noticeable. There's also a very faint smoke-like note, likely barrel char since this is an unpeated whisky. Palate: The arrival is big, sweet, creamy/oily, led by vanilla, honey, and malty cereal. It quickly develops a rich tropical fruit character with sweet pineapple, soft persimmon, mangosteen, and orange all appearing. The cereal notes from the arrival return after a while as a sweet brioche or light fruitcake presence. All this sweetness could be cloying, but there's a well-crafted counterpoint of restrained white pepper, ginger, and aniseed, along with mild dryness from both the moderately high abv and some soft oak tannin. The combination of all these elements creates a palate of precise balance and texture. Finish: Medium. Tropical fruity sweetness and honey linger on the palate, intertwined with delicate, spicy fresh oak notes. The aftertaste is mildly spiced sweet fruit. A cracking good whisky that might not impress on the initial nosing, as it's quite shy when first poured and takes time to open up. It's worth tasting neat initially, but I'd strongly recommend adding a dash of water and waiting at least 20 minutes for it to settle. This doesn't upset the whisky's balance but expands it, revealing its inherent breadth, depth, and intensity over time. It also develops a luscious creamy quality that builds throughout the tasting. Water also creates a strikingly dense louche, with the mist rising almost instantly and the whisky eventually becoming quite cloudy. I've observed this before in Arran whiskies, particularly cask-strength expressions. I assume they receive only the most cursory barrier filtration and are brimming with oils. Delicious. In profile, this shares similarities with the creamy sweet character of the 14-year-old expression, but The Bothy is maltier, less buttery, and has a very fresh, open quality. It's also more assertive overall (once it opens up), and in comparison, the 14 can seem a bit syrupy. It's also similar to the 10-year-old expression in some ways, with the same fresh malty cereal notes, but it's like the 10-year-old on steroids. The Bothy was first released in 2015 as a batch of 12,000 bottles. This second release came out in 2016, also as a batch of 12,000, and there were two subsequent annual batches in 2017 and 2018. All these expressions were produced using the same maturation cycle: 8 years in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, followed by 18 months in small re-coopered ex-bourbon wood quarter casks (about 100 liters capacity – 20% smaller than most quarter casks). I've tasted the first three batches, and they've all been very similar, but I think this second one is the best. 'Very Good': 87/100 (4.25 stars).