Arran Limited Edition – Single Cask Malt 8 Years Old 1996

Casks 96/2068 and 96/2072 sit within four cask numbers of each other in the 1996 production sequence, identifying them as sister casks filled within the same working batch at Lochranza. Despite the proximity of cask numbers the two casks were bottled at slightly different ages (eight years for 96/2068, seven years for 96/2072) and for different European markets through the early single cask programmes. The pair provides direct sister cask comparison material from the distillery's earliest single cask period.

Spirit was distilled at Lochranza in 1996 and matured eight years in single ex Bourbon cask 96/2068. Bottled in 2004 at the natural cask strength of 57.3% without chill filtration and without added colour, with the 299 bottle outturn reflecting the working yield of the single hogshead at eight years.

Eight years of ex Bourbon maturation produces early to mid phase cask integration, with the Arran spirit signature from the 1996 new make remaining the dominant flavour driver and the cask supplying the developing layer of vanillin, whisky lactones and the initial toasted sugar fraction from American oak hemicellulose breakdown. The 57.3% bottling strength preserves the full lipid fraction at the natural cask ABV.