Known as ‘Scotland in miniature’, Arran has highlands, but also fertile plains where barley can grow well – a microcosm of Scotland on one island. Once an island of small scale, illicit production, Arran’s agriculture was able to support around 50 stills of questionable legality at its southern half. If he deems the quality to be there for a limited release, then we are reassured that we have excellent whisky on our hands! These 12 thousand bottles were cask strength, first-fill bourbon barrels, just like the one we have here. In 2017 James MacTaggart celebrated a decade as the master distiller at Arran distillery and hand picked a selection of 10 year old casks for bottling. “I find that the bourbon barrel really allows the bright vibrant character of the Arran spirit to shine through at its absolute best.” The small-scale nature of Arran’s distillery means that he works closely with their cask suppliers and is extremely hands-on with the distillation process. Throughout his tenure James MacTaggart has focused and honed the first fill bourbon maturation process at the distillery. His career in whisky began in 1975 on his native Islay at the Bowmore Distillery. James MacTaggart became the distillery manager of Arran from 2007 and immediately had a positive impact, winning distillery manager of the year in his inaugural year. The spirit could continue maturing in this cask for many years without the fear of losing substantial ABV and bulk volume. However, after 3 and a half years in cask, this spirit remains at a high 61%. ![]() Edinburgh shivered with lows of 2☌, whilst Arran basked with highs of 12☌and with higher humidity percentage.Ī higher, and more constant, average temperature increases the angel’s share and the ABV would be expected to drop at a higher rate. ![]() ![]() The Isle of Arran has its own microclimate where temperatures are generally higher than the mainland this was true the week this cask was filled. Kelvin Cooperage has a vast inventory of Bourbon casks from Kentucky where this barrel originated and has supplied many major Scottish distilleries since 1963. James MacTaggert, Distillery Manager 2017Īnd Arran absolutely does, working with Kelvin Cooperage, a family run cooperage firm who were founded in Glasgow and relocated to Louisville, Kentucky in 1991. Since this time there has been a shift towards using fresh, first fill casks which are deemed to be the optimum wood for Arran’s spirit. When the distillery was in its infancy first fill bourbon casks were rarely used, in fact between 19 more than 90% of the casks used at Arran were second fill.
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