Arran Devil's Punch Bowl

[Exciseman]

My friend and I each bought a bottle of this today. A really, really nice presentation. Anyone else in on this one?

[MacDeffe]

How does it taste ?

Steffen

[kallaskander]

Hi there,

here is a clue....

http://www.thewhiskywire.com/2012/07/ar ... cious.html

Greetings
kallaskander

[Maakun]

I think that bottle looks hideous, and the price is too high for me. But I'm glad for Arran that they can sell whisky just by having some unusual bottle and limiting it to 6660 bottles.

[Peat Sampras]

I am sure this will work very well with the public (as opposed to geeks) as it stands out from the other bottles and has a cheeky theme (devil), so might be "cool" amoungst youngish persons - and devil worshippers of course

[Nick Brown]

I think that bottle looks hideous, and the price is too high for me. But I'm glad for Arran that they can sell whisky just by having some unusual bottle and limiting it to 6660 bottles.

I tend to agree. I had high hopes for Arran but they seem to be cheapening themselves with endless weird finishes and a steady supply of "limited edition" collectors bottles.

[Exciseman]

Oh no, not the 'drinking' versus 'collecting' argument again lol.

I must have missed something though. It was my impression that virtually all of Arran's limited edition bottlings (ie 6,000 each or less) have been pretty keenly priced. For example, bottles of "Icons of Arran Eagle" were on the shelves in London yesterday at £41.

Yes, the "Arran Devil's Punch Bowl" is a little pricier at £65-£70. But, according to the staff at Milroys, it is a fab whisky. Also, 'in the flesh' the whole package is fab.

[Pete Smoke]

I would hope this book is better than it's cover.

[MacDeffe]

I tend to agree. I had high hopes for Arran but they seem to be cheapening themselves with endless weird finishes and a steady supply of "limited edition" collectors bottles.

I prefer distilleries that put out new bottlings rather often than just have a standard range of 12, 15 and 18

Don't know why anyone would whine about that...

I know there's quite a few "weird" finishes available from Arran, but its on the label so easy to avoid for us that are not fan of finishes. Luckily there's a 2-3 bottlings out every year thats not finished as well as various single casks. I wish more distilleries were as prolific and gave us the consumers same amount of choices

Steffen

[solera]

I think that bottle looks hideous, and the price is too high for me. But I'm glad for Arran that they can sell whisky just by having some unusual bottle and limiting it to 6660 bottles.

I tend to agree. I had high hopes for Arran but they seem to be cheapening themselves with endless weird finishes and a steady supply of "limited edition" collectors bottles.

rabbed two direct from the distillery. I love the packaging and the bottle and have high hopes for it. The "icons" series was very keenly priced and nothing to do with weird finishes - and both the Peacock and Eagle were excellent drams.

Good to see Nick moving on from targetting Bruichladdich and starting on Arran!

[DavidUK]

I tend to agree. I had high hopes for Arran but they seem to be cheapening themselves with endless weird finishes and a steady supply of "limited edition" collectors bottles.

I prefer distilleries that put out new bottlings rather often than just have a standard range of 12, 15 and 18

Don't know why anyone would whine about that...

I know there's quite a few "weird" finishes available from Arran, but its on the label so easy to avoid for us that are not fan of finishes. Luckily there's a 2-3 bottlings out every year thats not finished as well as various single casks. I wish more distilleries were as prolific and gave us the consumers same amount of choices

Steffen

Couldn't agree more. And yet no one seems to criticise Lagavulin for only producing a 16yo and the occasional 12yo cask strength. Or Cardhu for that matter.

[MacDeffe]

Lagavulin could do more bottlings, but to be fair they also make a double matured, distillery only and friends version. Add to that the occasional 21, 25, 30 yo's their range is small but not that small. Cardhu on the other hand...beside the regular I only tasted a Rare Malt (thanks to Teun, it was really nice)

Steffen

[MacDeffe]

I suspect Nick dislikes Buffalo Trace, who spits out uncountable different kind of bottlings and sticks to Maker's Mark or Woodford Reserve when it comes to bourbon

Steffen

[Exciseman]

Arran Distillery is possible one of the few that has got the mix right. Some reasonably-priced core expressions for drinkers and an occasional not too dear limited release for those who like something a little different.

Anyway, what we few here says matters not a jot. It is selling out at every retailer who stocks it.

[Pudge72]

Arran Distillery is possible one of the few that has got the mix right. Some reasonably-priced core expressions for drinkers and an occasional not too dear limited release for those who like something a little different.

Anyway, what we few here says matters not a jot. It is selling out at every retailer who stocks it.

+1 to the sentiments above...can't wait to actually try an Arran sometime (I hope the 14 yo is kept in stock at the LCBO going forward)!

[Nick Brown]

I prefer distilleries that put out new bottlings rather often than just have a standard range of 12, 15 and 18

Don't know why anyone would whine about that...

It depends on what you are looking for in OBs and IBs. Personally, I expect OBs to be the definitive statement of what a distillery wants its whisky to be. I want consistency and replicability - if I enjoy a bottle I want to know that I can go back and get the same thing again with the same label. I don't want a purchase of an OB to be a gamble.

If I want to take a punt, I will go for an IB. I expect IBs to be a bit unpredictable, a bit different from the OB reference point. In buying an IB, I accept that some of them will be stellar and some will be a bit more ordinary. I also expect IBs to be about the whisky rather than the packaging.

But in between this, there is a role for something in between - the one off OB bottlings - either of something very old, rare and special; or the occasional celebratory bottling or curio. That's fine as long as it doesn't distract from the core range. And it needs to be done sparingly in order to avoid devaluing the currency - otherwise it is like cars where the "special edition" is actually used as a way of adding a few badges and features to a tired, end of the line model in the hope of shifting product to the gullible. Innovation is fine, but the constant quest for novelty suggests a distillery that doesn't have enough confidence in its product to generate repeat sales without hyping its be-lipsticked pig products.

I suspect Nick dislikes Buffalo Trace, who spits out uncountable different kind of bottlings and sticks to Maker's Mark or Woodford Reserve when it comes to bourbon

Actually, I am a great fan of Bookers from the Jim Beam stable. Buffalo Trace products seem to be of a consistently high quality and whilst they use a number of labels for their small batch products and do bottle in batches, there is a great deal of consistency and continuity between batches. That means that if I have enjoyed one George T Stagg bottling, I would have high confidence in buying another, different bottling. I haven't tried their "experimental" range.

[Nick Brown]

Good to see Nick moving on from targetting Bruichladdich and starting on Arran!

One day when you disagree with a point I make, you could try to actually counter my arguments rather than just make personal jibes.

[Mr Tattie Heid]

That didn't seem particularly personal to me, Nick. Just a comment on your comments.

And it needs to be done sparingly in order to avoid devaluing the currency - otherwise it is like cars where the "special edition" is actually used as a way of adding a few badges and features to a tired, end of the line model in the hope of shifting product to the gullible.

Is that what you think Arran are doing? It doesn't seem that way to me.

Arran did a lot of single-cask oddball finishes in their early years. You could take or leave them--maybe one or another would appeal for some personal reason. (I tried a dram of a calvados finish somewhere, and am sorry I never had a chance to buy a bottle.) If small independent distilleries try to act as their own IB's, who can blame them? If you're looking for consistency in their core range, then judge their core range accordingly. If the various odd releases don't measure up to IB's, then leave them alone. That doesn't seem so hard to me.

[mongo]

...well, it's fair to wonder if a distillery's attention span might not be spread a little too thin.

[MacDeffe]

Not many reviews but the Punvhbowl went no. 1 on whiskybase http://www.whiskybase.com/whiskies.php? ... kyid=33561

it's just 72€ so actually not that expensive

Steffen

[Nick Brown]

it's just 72€ so actually not that expensive

It's on sale at RMW for GBP69 a bottle. It is NAS but according to the blurb, it is 6 years old or younger (i.e. it includes 2006 whisky). There are 6600 bottles so it is not a small edition. For similar or less money, you could get Highland Park 18yo; Talisker 18yo, Glenfarclas 21yo; or even two bottles of Bruichladdich 10yo.

I'd say the Arran looks all of its money, as David Dickinson would say.

[solera]

Good to see Nick moving on from targetting Bruichladdich and starting on Arran!

One day when you disagree with a point I make, you could try to actually counter my arguments rather than just make personal jibes.

Ironic coming from you - have you forgotten the football fiasco! Not sure you are in any position to complain about personal jibes.

[Exciseman]

Like with any limited edition (or indeed any expression), buy it if it piques your interest (whether to drink or keep) and don't buy it if it doesn't 'light your candle'.

[Nick Brown]

Good to see Nick moving on from targetting Bruichladdich and starting on Arran!

One day when you disagree with a point I make, you could try to actually counter my arguments rather than just make personal jibes.

Ironic coming from you - have you forgotten the football fiasco! Not sure you are in any position to complain about personal jibes.

Well, I thought I had made a non-personal, non-specific reference to loyalists and the fact that they associated themselves with the erstwhile Rangers FC. If you recognised yourself in my comments then I am sorry but I promise you it wasn't intended. You don't think there's the slightest chance, five months later, that you might be overreacting?

[Douglas]

Hopefully the multitude of finishes was just to keep them going while the the spirit matured. Most didn't appeal to me but, agreeing with Mr T, there were always a couple I enjoyed despite myself.

I seem to mainly enjoy the releases where the bourbon casks speak loudest. I'm nervous about most sherry casks these days and I've had a couple of sherried/wine cask Arrans where I felt a little sulphur got in the way.

This release is a bit of fun and I was thinking about buying it. I would have liked to try it, or seen some more searching tasting notes, but I suspect this is going to appeal to a wide audience and sell out quickly. It might have made a good Halloween release.