Arran Bourgogne Cask

Burgundy cask finishing is one of the more unusual wine cask experiments in the Arran catalogue. Where Bordeaux casks are widely available and traded in the spirits cask market, Burgundy wood is rarer due to the smaller scale of Burgundy red wine production and the working practices of the region's smaller Domaines. Arran sourced Burgundy casks during the early to mid 2000s as part of the wider wine cask programme that produced the distillery's early stylistic identity.

Spirit matured at Lochranza in a single Burgundy barrique, with the original wine produced primarily from Pinot Noir grapes in the Côte d'Or or surrounding Burgundian subregions. Burgundy barriques are typically French oak of finer grain than Bordeaux equivalents, often Tronçais or Allier wood. Bottled at 56.5% without chill filtration and without added colour.

Pinot Noir based Burgundy casks deliver a different residue profile from Bordeaux red wine casks. The wine itself carries less tannic structure and more delicate red fruit ester compounds, with elevated levels of ethyl hexanoate, ethyl octanoate and the characteristic Pinot derived aroma compounds. Combined with the finer French oak grain, the resulting whisky develops a subtler red fruit and floral layer over the Bourbon underlay, with less aggressive tannic drying than the Bordeaux equivalent.