Via the Master of Malt (www.masterofmalt.com) whisky sampling program I was able to conduct a taste test on a dram (30 ml) of Arran 12 year old single cask, single malt (54.7% alcohol by volume) whisky. This Scotch whisky is produced by the Arran Distillery (www.arranwhisky.com ) located on the Isle of Arran.
Master of Malt runs a ‘Drinks by the Dram’
(www.masterofmalt.com/drinks-by-the-dram/ ) program that enables you, the prospective customer, to sample a variety of whiskys for a relatively small cost before committing to a purchase. Such a deal, eh! You can follow Master of Malt on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.
Master of Malt gives an olfactory and gustatory description of Arran 12 Year Old on its web page (www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/master-of-malt-12-year-old-arran-whisky/). This description includes such terms as ‘briny’, citrusy malt’, ‘thick briny malt’. However, everyone’s chemoreception (that’s taste and smell) aren’t the same and a number of taste testers is always a good idea (n = 30?). Sure, I can do that 30 times!
The first thing that hit us (yes, I shared my dram with my wife and daughter (also a whisky reviewer (http://rareouldtimes.blogspot.com) was the alcohol content. My chemoreception system doesn’t seem to have reference values for ‘briny’ or ‘citrusy’ when it comes to whisky. With a little additional experimentation we paired the Arran with chocolate – specifically homemade spicy Mexican chocolate cookies – and that was right on target!
On the other side of the whisky front we have been sampling Stranahan’s Colorado whisky (47% alcohol by volume), The Macallan (www.themacallan.com) 12 year old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (43% alcohol by volume) and The Yamazaki (www.suntory.com/yamazaki/main.html) 10 year old Single Malt Whisky (40% alcohol by volume).
Stay tuned .....
