Scotch Saturday: Italian Vacation

Summary

The Arran Amarone Cask is the most unique cask finish I've had yet, and most certainly the one I've most enjoyed.

A sharp departure from luscious sherry finishes, Arran has instead aged this malt in barrels that previously held Amarone, a dry Italian wine made from partially dried grapes.

I drank this bottle far too fast, although I did invite some guys over to share it. Normally, I don't pay much attention to the color of whisky, but this pours a really beautiful rose pink.

It smells like heaven, if heaven were made of marzipan, raisin cake and dark chocolate. I get a lot of stone fruit and raspberry on the first taste, but with time, dry roasted cocoa comes creeping back in. Fantastic, and finishes well too, with just a hint of earth and bitterness.