Arran Brandy Cask

The Brandy Cask programme at Arran functioned during the experimental cask finishing era as a recurring rather than continuous release. The distillery filled and finished spirit in available brandy casks as opportunity allowed, releasing batches at varying ABV and with subtle compositional variation. This batch sits within that programme alongside several other Brandy Cask entries from the same broad period.

Primary maturation runs in first fill ex Bourbon American oak barrels at Lochranza, with secondary brandy cask finishing carried out for a defined period before bottling. Bottled at 59% without chill filtration and without added colour, retaining the natural cask strength of the vatted parcel.

Grape brandy ageing produces a particular oak residue distinct from wine cask seasoning. The original brandy contains very low residual sugar but elevated congeners including ethyl octanoate, ethyl decanoate and the rancio derived compounds from long oxidative ageing. These transfer into the whisky during the secondary maturation, with the Bourbon underlay providing the structural vanilla and lactone framework that the brandy finish layers on top of.