What Water of Life/Scotch are drinking or purchased 2025?

[Kepler]

40 minutes ago, Scotch_Collector said:

@Kepler, I am interested to see how you like them. I am a big fan of The Arran Malts. 

 

I have some old Arran Malt bottles that are cask strength and delicious. I have a single cask bourbon cask that I had to have gotten over 10 years ago. From about the same time I have Single Cask sherry cask as well. I rarely drink them because they are so good and I believe both were under $100. Probably spend a lot more to get that kind of flavor now!

 

I also have a few more recent bottles from them. The Sauternes cask finish is lovely (100 proof) and so is the Amarone Cask finish (100 proof).

 

Finally, I have the Broderick Bay 20 Year cask strength. That is an amazing bottle.

 

Bottom line: Arran makes good scotch. 

 

Yessir I've heard many great things so I had to add these to my shelf.  Both of these are excellent, hard to pick a favorite.  They are different, with the newer 10 having more sherry influence than the original (exactly as I had read in reviews prior to purchasing).

Which one do I prefer?  Depends if I'm in a real sherry mood or not.  Haha yes I'm riding the fence .  They are both very high quality whisky and great values for the money.  I can see why Arran 10 is considered a staple in the single malt world.  

 

For now, these are great for me.  I'm sure eventually I will be curious about what what else Arran has to offer higher up in their range like you have.  But sounds like your older bottles are something special.

 

[NDN98]

Picked up a bottle of The Spice Tree, since it has been retired/discontinued  by Compass Box, along with The Spaniard.  Both of those are two that I have always tried to keep on hand, but I have also tried the new ones that will be replacing them in the regular line-up, and they do not disappoint either.

[Scotch_Collector]

30 minutes ago, NDN98 said:

Picked up a bottle of The Spice Tree, since it has been retired/discontinued  by Compass Box, along with The Spaniard.  Both of those are two that I have always tried to keep on hand, but I have also tried the new ones that will be replacing them in the regular line-up, and they do not disappoint either.

The Spice Tree is a very interesting bottle. The Spaniard was a steal! Sad to see them go. 

[Scotch_Collector]

On 6/17/2025 at 11:48 PM, Kepler said:

 

Yessir I've heard many great things so I had to add these to my shelf.  Both of these are excellent, hard to pick a favorite.  They are different, with the newer 10 having more sherry influence than the original (exactly as I had read in reviews prior to purchasing).

Which one do I prefer?  Depends if I'm in a real sherry mood or not.  Haha yes I'm riding the fence .  They are both very high quality whisky and great values for the money.  I can see why Arran 10 is considered a staple in the single malt world.  

 

For now, these are great for me.  I'm sure eventually I will be curious about what what else Arran has to offer higher up in their range like you have.  But sounds like your older bottles are something special.

 

I understand. Sometimes you feel like a sherry bomb, sometimes you don't. 

 

I have more wine/sherry/port, etc. finishes than bourbon or other wood finishes in my single malt collection. However, I am not always in the mood for that flavor profile. I really enjoy all different casks, but from a collectors perspective, it is fun the amount of different types of finishes exist in the wine world. Different kinds, different time in them, different bases, different aged end products, etc. 

[MM818]

4 hours ago, NDN98 said:

Picked up a bottle of The Spice Tree, since it has been retired/discontinued  by Compass Box, along with The Spaniard.  Both of those are two that I have always tried to keep on hand, but I have also tried the new ones that will be replacing them in the regular line-up, and they do not disappoint either.

Nice. I love Compass Box. I scored a Spaniard a couple months ago. I still see Spice Tree. 

[Kepler]

6 hours ago, NDN98 said:

Picked up a bottle of The Spice Tree, since it has been retired/discontinued  by Compass Box, along with The Spaniard.  Both of those are two that I have always tried to keep on hand, but I have also tried the new ones that will be replacing them in the regular line-up, and they do not disappoint either.

 

Good call.  I also picked up a Spice Tree a week or two ago.  It was on clearance sale for a couple bucks off, so it was a no brainer.  I prefer it slightly more than the Spaniard.  I also picked up the latest Flaming Hearts release but I haven't tried it yet.

[jvd99]

On 6/13/2025 at 10:02 PM, NDN98 said:

Opened this one tonight and it has a lot going on and is a definite Sherry-bomb! First impressions are very good with hints of raisins, chocolate, subtle pepper spice, and honey.

Is this available in the States?

[NDN98]

10 hours ago, jvd99 said:

Is this available in the States?

It is not.   I ordered some bourbon from overseas that from my favorite online store that was having some sales and I threw in a couple of bottles of Scotch not available here so I could get the biggest bang for my buck with shipping.

[jvd99]

Nice. I'm going to Kenya via Doha in August, I'll look for this in the Doha duty free to drink while on safari