Sometimes you open a bottle, and as soon as the aroma’s hit your nose… you know you need to get yourself a bottle. That was very much the case with this Bottle Dreams Arran 1997. Distilled at the Lochranza Ditstillery in 1997 and bottled in 2024, this 27 year old whisky hit all the right spots on the nose. Whether that will continue on the palate and finish we’ll soon find out in the tasting notes, but for now this dram already has my mouth watering.
Bottle Dreams is a Dutch independent bottler with various interesting bottlings, and it’s part of the very popular Perfect Dram group. Perfect Dram is also famous for importing the beautiful Fragrant Drops bottlings to the Dutch market. This Isle of Arran release sits very much in the premium segment. It arrives in a sturdy wooden case and the bottle is just stunning. Only 100 bottles have been made and it’s bottled at a cask strength of 44.4%
Tasting Notes: Bottle Dreams Isle of Arran 1997
Stats:
Age: 27 years old
ABV: 44,4% (88,8 proof)
Distillery: Lochranza Distillery (Arran)
Bottled by: Bottle Dreams
Natural Colour: Yes
Chill-filtered: No
Nose:
Canned peaches, prunes konfit, honey soaked pineapple, fresh papaya and a hint of kumquats give this dram an overall tropical, but mainly very fruity feel. But there’s plenty more complexity behind those fruity notes as well, with layers of charred oak shavings, white pepper, hibiscus and a beautifully fragrant eucalyptus note very softly in the background.
Palate:
Honey mead is the first thing that comes to mind here. Every drop seems to trickle thick with bee juice. But there’s also fresh apricots, mango, guava and a lovely clear hint of passion fruit. And if there’s anything I’m a sucker for it’s passionfruit. Brown sugar, tum-tum’s and hard candy (the necklace king) add some more depth to this dram and it all seems to be topped off with a veil of cotton candy. Lovely stuff!
Finish:
The finish lingers long and beautifully with a bouquet of tropical fruit flavours, as found before on nose and palate. A beautiful continuation of what was already there, if you will. There’s some hints of ground white pepper and charred oak as well, giving a nice complexity to this fruity dram. Some burnt toast with mango chutney rounds it all off beautifully.
Food Pairing:
This will go absolutely stunningly with a piña colada themed bavarois, or to keep it a bit more simple… it will also go perfectly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. For those lacking a sweet tooth though, give this Bottle Dreams Arran 1997 a shot with camembert on toast!
Verdict:
An absolutely stunning dram and honestly a fair price for a single cask Arran of 27 years (it sells for around 400 euro). Sadly enough, still a bit outside of my comfortable price range though. But it’s one of those drams that does make it tempting to splurge on a bottle. Either way this is a dram that will not dissapoint and if 1997 happens to be your birthyear, this would be an absolute stunner to add to your collection!
One thing is for certain, it was an absolute joy to review this Bottle Dreams Arran 1997!
