Arran 13 Years Old 2005 Cask #18 (whic – Whiskycircle)

whic Whiskycircle operates as a German independent bottler and online whisky retailer with a programme of curated single cask releases under themed series. The Nymphs of Whisky Collection presents individual casks under classical mythology framing, with each release named for a specific nymph or water spirit from Greek mythology. This Arran 13 Year Old uses a Madeira finishing cask, an unusual wood choice within the Arran independent bottling catalogue.

Spirit was distilled at Lochranza in 2005 and matured thirteen years with a Madeira cask phase. Madeira casks are typically constructed of French or American oak having previously held the fortified wine of Madeira island in Portugal, with the wine aged through the long oxidative estufa heating system that produces Madeira's distinctive cooked sugar and dried fruit profile. Bottled in 2019 at 50.3% without chill filtration and without added colour.

Madeira cask residue delivers a particular flavour signature derived from the estufagem heated maturation of the original wine, with elevated levels of furfural, hydroxymethylfurfural and Maillard reaction products carried into the cask wood. The casks transfer these compounds into the whisky during the secondary phase, producing the characteristic cooked sugar, dried fig and dried apricot notes that Madeira finishing produces against an underlying Bourbon cask base. Flavour tag: honey.