Oban Distillers Edition
We didn’t write a review for the Oban Distillers Edition until almost a year after buying the bottle because of a very simple reason: we drank the damn thing too fast. It was gone before we could put proverbial pen to paper! By common consensus, this was the first club’s favorite. Hence, we decided to treat ourselves to an early Christmas and revisited something we know we enjoy. The bonus is that it now enables us to put our glasses down long enough to write a review. Barely. This is a unique expression from an already storied distillery.
Arran Sauternes Cask
Situated on Arran, full of castles and fascinating landmarks like the King’s Cave and the Machrie Moor Stone Circles, this lovely isle once had 30 underground distilleries operating on it. It is very clear they embrace their history and infuse it in their whisky right alongside their water and barley. This penchant is shown in the names of some offerings, which include the Robert Burns, the Machrie Moor, and the Devil’s Punchbowl. They even have a cream liqueur! The Arran Sauternes Cask is distilled for 8 years in regular oak casks, then finished in Sauternes wine casks (Sauternes, in case you ever wondered, is a sweet white wine from Bordeaux).
Laphroaig Triple Wood
Laphroaig is an institution on Islay. As such, they’ve had time to experiment. Some whiskys get additional flavoring from being partially or wholly aged in a variety of barrels (ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, ex-etc.). The folks at Laphroaig have doubled, nay, tripled down on that area of the distillation process with this Triple Wood offering. The first is ex-bourbon American oak, the second is quarter casks (smaller cask means more of the whisky is in contact with the wood and thus takes on more flavoring), and the third is ex-Oloroso sherry European oak.