Saturday, March 03, 2007

BIBLE THUMPING ARRAN

Writing in the 2007 edition of his “Whisky Bible”, Jim Murray has awarded Arran Distillery some of the highest marks ever for a range of its products – even higher than many long established names in the whisky industry.

Awarding the first-ever Arran 10 year old a score of 93, he said: “It won’t be long before the world’s malt connoisseurs add Arran to their list of must haves. Because if it’s character and quality you want, it’s here by the malt shed load.”

The new Arran 100o Proof Single Malt has a rating of 91 and is described as “sheer class”, while a number of the special bottlings in the company’s Cask Strength Programme are given scores of 92, 93 and 94. The Sherry Cask rated 92 is described as “A glorious advert for a distillery just coming of age.” The Trebbiano D’Abruzzo Wine Cask Finish rated 93 is described as “A jazzed up fruity, spicy number but astonishingly clean.”

Murray’s best rating, however, is reserved for a special sherry cask he tasted with Gordon Mitchell, our Distillery Manager, (above) at the company’s 10th anniversary celebrations in 2005. Awarding a score of 94 Mr. Murray commented “Total drinksmanship and brilliance. There is not a whisky even close to this in character. A stunning one off.”
Commenting on these ratings, Arran’s managing director, Douglas Davidson, said: “We have always known that we produce single malt whisky of the very highest quality here on Arran. It is nice to know that the world’s top whisky writer agrees with us, however! These ratings – across a variety of different Arran single malt products – show just how far Arran has come in the last three or four years. The baby distillery has grown up. We are here to stay and intend to become an even greater force to be reckoned with in world whisky markets for the future.”