Master of Malt – Arran 12 Year Old Single Cask Scotch Whisky

The sample of Scotch Whisky I will be reviewing today was sent to us by Master of Malt. Master of Malt is an online retailed specializing in Whisky although they also sell a variety of other spirits. The company is based out of East Sussex, United Kingdom and they ship almost anywhere in the world. The package arrived in Canada in record time and the bottles were extremely well protected. ne of the winderful features offered by Master of Malt besides their huge selection of spirits is the ability to get many of the spirits in a small 3cl/30ml sample bottle similar to the one pictured. This is called the “Drinks by the Dram”. Please visit www.MasterOfMalt.com to see with wide selection of spirits and read the bounty of information they have there. you can also follow them on twitter: @MasterofMalt

The Maker: Arran Distillery
The Beverage: 12 Year Old Single Cask (Master of Malt)
The Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
The Beverage’s Home: Scotland, East of the village of Lochranza on the Isle of Arran
The Situation: Relaxing on the couch

The Story:
The Scotch Whisky being reviewed today is a 12 year aged spirit from the Arran Distillery. The particular one I sampled is a Master of Malt Single Cask special edition series. The standard 12 year from Arran is also available. Arran Distillery is actually fairly young being founded in 1993 and starting production in only 1995. It is a Single Malt Scotch Whisky that is distilled by Arran and bottled by Master of Malt after being specially aged in a single cask. The alcohol content weighs in at 54.7% alc./vol.

The Bottle:
The sample we received came in a small clear bottle with a black cap. The bottle is delicately sealed with what appears to be a wax coating. This ensured the cap did not unscrew and the bottle did not leak at all in transit. The front of the bottle has “Vintage” style label containing the “Master of Malt” name and the name of the contained Scotch Whisky.

The Eyes:
This Scotch Whisky is very clean and transparent. It has a very warm golden-amber tone to it. It’s very pleasing to the eye and inviting. I’m enjoying this particular blend “neat” tonight with no added water or ice.

The Nose:
Some fruity and smokey notes immediately evident on the nose. The fruity notes are the most dominant initially and linger on the nose ever so slightly.

The Tongue:
This wonderful looking Scotch Whisky coats the tongue nicely and lingers with some interesting flavors. Initially you get a big hit of sweet malt, followed by a bright fruity finish. There’s a slight smokiness and even woodsy-ness that can be detected. The spirit tingles on the tongue as the coating slowly fades. It actually leaves you with a mouthwatering citrus finish that is very enjoyable.

The Final Drop:
I was quite impressed by this particular Single Malt Scotch Whisky from Arran Distillery. At a fairly young age of 12 years it has a lot of competition on the market. And since the distillery only began production 14 years ago it is a fairly limited release of one of their first productions. In comparison to a lot of other 12-year Scotch Whisky’s this one had a wonderful coating flavor on the palate and was not overly harsh even when enjoyed neat.

The Pairings:
The Master of Malt Single Cask version of Arran’s 12-year Single Malt Scotch Whisky would pair very well with a variety of cigars. I would suggest finding something that is medium in body and can compliment the fruity sweetness. The two cigars that instantly come to mind would be the La Aurora 107 Corona, La Aurora 107 Robusto or the K.A. Kendall 7-20-4.