Arran 9 Years Old 1995 Paris (Moon-Import)

Moon Import was founded in 1980 by Pepi Mongiardino in Genoa, Italy, and has operated continuously for over four decades as one of the longest established continental European independent bottlers of Scotch single malt. The company is recognised in particular for the distinctive label artwork by Italian illustrators across its themed series, including the Paris series this bottling appears within. The 1995 vintage Arran spirit used draws on the distillery's inaugural production year, making this release one of the earliest commercially available Arran independent bottlings.

Spirit was distilled at Lochranza in 1995 under the supervision of original distillery manager Gordon Mitchell and matured nine years in casks before being shipped to Moon Import for bottling. The 980 bottle outturn at nine years suggests a vatting from multiple casks rather than a single cask presentation. Bottled in 2004 at 46% without chill filtration and without added colour.

Nine years of cask maturation on 1995 vintage Arran new make captures the spirit at the early integration phase, with the underlying Arran citric and fresh fruit signature dominant and the cask in the developing extraction phase. The 46% bottling strength sits at the threshold above which chill filtration becomes unnecessary, preserving the long chain fatty acid esters in solution at the unfiltered presentation.