Arran 14 Year Single Malt Whisky (700 ml)

When Harold Currie — former Managing Director of Chivas Brothers — opened Lochranza Distillery in 1995, he made a deliberate transgression: reviving legal distillation on Arran after a 160-year absence while refusing the peated maritime template every other island producer had built their identity upon. The result is a fruit-forward, unpeated single malt that sits closer to Highland in character than to its Islay or Talisker neighbours.

The distillery occupies Glen Eason Biorach ('Valley of the Sharp Waterfalls') on Arran's north-west coast, drawing water from Loch na Davie high in the granite mountains above — the burn cascades through six waterfalls, purified by granite and softened by trace peat, arriving at the mash tun soft and mineral-clean. The Gulf Stream microclimate accelerates maturation, compressing what cooler mainland cellars might take longer to achieve.

Production is anchored by long fermentations of 60–75 hours in six Oregon pine washbacks using Kerry M yeast — a deliberate choice to maximise fruity ester development in the new make. Double distillation runs through tall-necked wash stills (7,100 L) and bulb-shaped spirit stills (4,300–4,800 L) with long lyne arms, all steam-heated, collecting new make at ~68% ABV. The 14-year expression matures in ex-bourbon American oak and ex-sherry European oak, then bottles at 46% ABV, non-chill filtered, no caramel colouring — a house-wide commitment rare at this price point. The special feature: an island whisky with zero peat influence, proving the Islands category needs no smoke to justify its geography.