Arran 16 Years Old 1998 Cask #98/820 (Rest & be Thankful Whisky Company)

Rest & be Thankful's 2015 bottling year produced multiple Arran releases tied to different European markets, with the 1996 vintage at eighteen years released for Belgium (SC67140) and this 1998 vintage at sixteen years released for Italy. The pair documents the bottler's working relationships with specialist whisky retailers across continental Europe during this period. Cask 98/820 from the 1998 vintage was matured sixteen years before the 2015 bottling.

Spirit was distilled at Lochranza in 1998 and matured sixteen years in a single ex Bourbon American oak cask referenced 98/820. Bottled in 2015 at 56.8% without chill filtration and without added colour, with the 281 bottle outturn reflecting the working yield of the single cask.

Sixteen years of ex Bourbon maturation produces measured cask integration, with the cask supplied vanillin, whisky lactones and the developing toasted oak sugar fraction sitting against the underlying Arran spirit signature. The slightly higher 56.8% ABV of this 1998 cask compared to the 55.3% of the 1996 sister Belgian release reflects natural variation in evaporation rates between casks of different vintages and storage positions.