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Arran 10yo

2024 Official Bottling | 46% ABV

Only Fools Never Change Their Minds

This is not a one-way-street. And by ‘this’ I mean pretty much all of our digital whisky sharing: Dramface, WhiskyTube and the wider whisky community. A community that doesn’t just surround platforms like this like electrons swarming around a nucleus, but rather is an integral part of it. We, the whisky people, if you will.

I already confessed that it took me quite a while to warm up when it comes to Arran’s Lochranza malt and - even though I have since seen the error of my ways - I’m still a bit on the fence. 

Part of their core range – particularly some of their NAS expressions -  still don’t get me very excited, despite the 50% ABV and the absence of both artificial colouring and chill filtration. Hence why it took me just the one average bottle of their 10yo from over a decade ago to pretty much ignore their core - if not flagship, then certainly signature - expression. Call it a semi-deliberate oversight on my behalf. Likely even thick headed stubbornness, or whatever you like, because there were signals a-plenty to at least reconsider and give this another go.

Since that bottle I picked up almost 10 years ago, quite a few things have changed. Arran got themselves rebranded with a new bottle design and a new label, and with Lagg they now also have a second distillery making their peated malt. Hopefully my own palate and experience have grown and developed as well and last - but very definitely not least - there’s the fact that, in its current form, Arran’s 10 yo expressions bagged the ‘Best Value Whisky’ award in the OSWAs three years in a row, making it a Trifecta winner in 2024. 

In the 2023’s OSWAs it won the category with over 1500 votes, leaving behind the likes of Kilkerran 12yo, Ardnamurchan’s AD/, Ledaig 10yo and Port Charlotte 10yo. All whiskies I hold in high regard. How’s that for writing on the wall, Earie? 

Furthermore, as it was ‘ineligible’ in the 2024 ceremony awards as a consequence of this Trifecta win, it went on to win the ‘People’s Choice’ due to community votes. As if we need any more convincing, a certain WhiskyTube commentator from somewhere in the Irish Sea voted it as his whisky of the year. Again.

So I did what every sensible human being would do with all the evidence put in front of him; I reconsidered things. I abandoned my previously acquired bias and finally picked up another bottle.


Review

Arran 10yo, Official Bottling, 2024 release, bottle code: 8.7.2024, 46% ABV
~£34 - £40 (€40/£34 paid) & wide availability

It's been nearly three years since Dramface last reviewed this one, when it went head to head with its peated twin Machrie Moor, so a revisit seems well due…

Nose

A mixture of gentle salt notes and apples. Somewhat malty (think bread, barley and barley sugar) as well. Then we have orange peel, light nutty notes of almond and hazelnut. Just a dash of sweet spices like cinnamon with a whiff of grass and hay to add some complexity. The nose suggests a good balance and nothing overly complex. I’m looking for all those white and tropical fruit notes from that 2014 bottling (I keep notes), but apart from perhaps some shy tinned peach or apricot, I can’t really find them.

Palate

Again that combo of gentle salinity and apple sweetness on the arrival, immediately backed up by that bready-barley like note with some very mild spiciness to it. It comes with a pleasant sticky, clinging, medium-full mouthfeel which gently coats the tongue, while at the back end I picked up notes of orange peel and vanilla with just a hint of that nutty character. A remarkably short finish though.

The Dregs

I will happily admit that I have been a stubborn fool for way too long. This is very pleasant and quaffable stuff.

The balance has significantly improved and, in fact, is spot on here. The best thing about this release may well be the price, since I paid precisely 2 euro (£1.30) less for this bottling than what I paid for that 2014 release all those years ago. 

Hovering around the £35 mark, this delivers a lot of bang for your buck, up to the point that I was tempted to even mark this a 7/10, factoring in the value element; if it weren’t for the finish which sort of drops off a cliff. I can only imagine quite a few of you Dramface readers might be inclined to give me a look of pity on this one, being so horribly late to the party. So why am I bothering you with a bottle a lot if not most of you will have discovered and embraced it long ago? 

Well, truth be told, this review isn’t necessarily aimed at the majority of you. If we want this whole thing to be as welcoming and inclusive as we like to believe it is, we need to not just seek out and discuss ‘the advanced stuff’.  Visiting (and revisiting) what many may deem ‘entry level’ yet cornerstone or ‘quintessential’ holds a lot of merit and value. 

Most of us - myself included - are well on our way in our whisky journeys, chasing deeply-layered coastal complexity or super delicate floral stuff, take-no-prisoner peat monsters, in your face sherry bombs, or whatever it is that tickles our fancy at any given moment. It’s easy to get lost in the rabbit hole, after all. 

Precisely because of that, it makes sense to have benchmark whiskies such as these. Nothing overly complex, but well presented and full of flavour while being both accessible in price and ubiquitous when considering availability.

So much so, you could argue expressions like this are hiding in plain sight. These are the sort of whiskies that appeal across the board, offering excellent value, making it ‘easy’ for people just at the start of the journey to help understand what the fuss is all about while at the same time being a great reality check for the more seasoned and experienced amongst us. I’m looking at me there.

A reminder - and a firm one at that - showing us we don’t necessarily always need to chase that next limited indie cask strength release with a (near) three-digit price tag to find something that floats our boats. I’m in no position to lecture or preach here, nor have I any wish to do so, because it’s a clear cut case of ‘more the fool me’ to have ignored this expression - and the voice of the wider whisky community - for so long. The vain being humbled, indeed.

Score: 6/10

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. EA

Other opinions on this:

Ralfy (video)
Whiskybase
MALT (2022)
Dramface (2022)
GWhisky (video)

Got a link to a reliable review? Tell us.

See this gallery in the original post