Arran Lightly Peated

The Lightly Peated Small Batch sits within the same series structure as the broader Peated Small Batch programme but explicitly positioned at the lighter phenolic end. Where Machrie Moor since the Fifth Edition has used 20 ppm peated malt, the Lightly Peated draws on the earlier 14 ppm specification or shorter contact peated runs, producing a softer smoke profile. The series provided an outlet for smaller volume peated parcels that did not fit the established Machrie Moor format, particularly through the period when Lochranza was winding down its peated production ahead of the Lagg opening.

Maturation runs in ex Bourbon American oak casks at Lochranza, with the small batch vatting drawn together from a defined parcel of the peated inventory. Bottled at 56.7% representing the natural cask strength of the batch, with no chill filtration and no added colour.

At the lighter peating level the phenolic load reads as gentle wood smoke rather than the medicinal or kippery register of heavier peated malts. The phenols present are dominated by guaiacol and 4 methyl guaiacol, both moderately volatile and integrating well with the underlying Arran fresh fruit and citric profile. The Bourbon cask contributes vanillin and the supporting layer of toasted sugar from American oak hemicellulose breakdown.