Arran 10

The Maker

Among the whisky geeks of the internet Arran is frequently listed as a favourite distillery. Why is simple. Arran has fostered a reputation for producing high quality whisky, at a fair price. Fans really can’t ask for anything more than that, and it's hard to think of a time in recent years where Arran hasn’t delivered.

Yet getting to this position hasn’t been an easy journey. Arran was established by former Chivas director Harold Currie in the mid-1990s at the most northern point of Arran in a village called Lochranza close to the Campbeltown ferry terminal. This wasn't an easy period in Whisky history, so was a considerable gamble compared to the many new distilleries we see popping up today.

So small was the site that for many years the distillery had to depend on Springbank for cask storage. Given the growing success of Arran over the years I can’t help but wonder at what additional expertise the Springbank team offered in addition to storage space? After all they do seem to be very ideologically aligned. This shows itself in the very similar approaches they take. Such as trying to do as much of the production on site as possible, using local ingredients where they can, and installing traditional wooden washbacks, copper stills and dunnage warehouses.

The drawback of this approach is that it took Arran a rather long time to start making money - with the first profit turned as late as 2010. This isn’t uncommon given the initial cost of construction and maturation meaning that it can be the best part of a decade before any significant income is returned. These days it’s common to turn out some alternative gin or vodka products to make up the shortfall, but from what I can establish Arran came along a few years before this was standard practice. It did however eventually achieve the same thing by producing a Cream Liqueur since 2004 which I’m told serves as a pleasant alternative to Baileys. But I have to confess the notion of such liqueurs has always turned my stomach so I'll stick to their whisky!

The early 2000s in general was a pivotal period in Arran’s short history. It also marked Harold Currie exit from the business and the remaining shareholders taking control under the direction of Euan Mitchell, again of Springbank stock, who is still in his position at the time of writing.  From this point on the Arran story has been one of success built upon success.

The core of this success has remained the high quality whisky which fans love so much. By the 2010s the core range was expanding to include a much missed 14yo (which is apparently returning in some form in the near future), and also the launch of a peated Machrie Moor range which has served as the prototype for the spin off Lagg distillery on the southern tip of Arran that has only just started to release whisky this year. There’ll be a review of that in the near future as it’s equally impressive.

The Expression

Through all of this success and growth the engine at the heart of Arran’s release slate has been the 10yo. First released in 2006 and the torchbearer of the 2019 rebrand, the 10yo has won multiple awards over the years from the World Whiskies Awards and International Wines & Spirits Competitions of 2019, to the much more meaningful OSWAs where it has consistently won the Best Value Whisky category and even won overall Best Scotch Whisky award in the ceremony’s first year.

In line with Arran’s commitment to integrity releases the 10yo is always released at 46% and is neither coloured nor chill-filtered. It’s also constructed of a mix of first fill bourbon barrels, and first fill and re-fill sherry hogsheads. It’s not clear on the precise breakdown of the three, but the general view seems to be that the bulk of the batches are bourbon. Given this it’s no surprise that the 10yo is often suggested as the perfect beginner whisky.

The Neck Pour

Straight in with lime and pineapple on the nose. This is quickly added to by a thick oak char, vanilla and even a hint of elderflower.

The flavour of the arrival is relatively simple but very pleasant. Lots of warm honey and sugars. But it’s followed by sour notes before returning to those initial notes of sharp citrus fruits and ripe pineapple.

By the end it all mellows out with a bit of a short whimper that leaves me wanting more. In short very nice, accessible and rewarding. It just won’t blow the socks off an experienced whisky drinker.

The Body

As with most of these reviews I am coming back to this bottle after several months, yet I can’t help but enjoy this more with each dram. Digging deeper I'm getting some light mazapan notes. Yet there's also something sweeter coming through that's linked to the lime. It sort of reminds me of the two colour lollipops I had as a child.

In comparison to less 'budget whiskies' I don’t think there are lots more flavours revealing themselves over time and oxidisation, but what’s there works so well as it is. If I had to pick a comparison at this point it would have to be the Clynelish 14. But I consider this a nudge better in all respects.

Final thoughts

There’s nothing new reveling itself to me at this point. In short it's a simple yet very well executed whisky. As such I can see why it’s often marketed as a gateway whisky. For me it sits nicely with the likes of Talisker 10 and Dalwhinnie 15 as something I’d strongly recommend to someone who wants to explore what Scotch has to offer. Yet I don't mean that to sound in any way condasenting as I equally believe that this has a place on everyone's whisky shelf alongside far less reasonable alternatives.