First, let it be said: Arran is lovely!
And quite rightfully marketed with the catchphrase ‘Scotland in miniature’, a reference to the island’s divide by the Highland line. Here the ambitious traveller can take in coastal vistas, jagged peaks, grazing sheep, and a round of golf, all in the same day, and with still an hour to spare for a distillery tour. As it says on the tin, Arran is Scotland in miniature, and with all the vacation sublets this entails.
Local friends have tipped us off to a seafood shack in Skipness, minutes from Claonaig on the Argyll peninsula, the slipway for Arran’s seasonal ferry (and a convenient shortcut for those headed to Campbeltown or Islay in summer). A glass of muscadet does not go amiss with a generous platter of crustaceans and salmon, and we arrive at Lochranza (the distillery formerly known as Arran) sated and pink cheeked after a quick sailing and a hearty feast.
Unfortunately the couple joining us for the afternoon tasting are less chuffed and understandably so, as these are outdoorsy types seeking refuge from the midges of a wet campsite up the road. Being English they are certainly no strangers to the insidious rain of a British summer, but still — Malaga this is not, though the male half is sanguine about their holiday choices. Keeping dry while camping in Scotland is no more realistic than making an omelette without breaking eggs, so he is resolved to take his creature comforts where and when he can find them.
Today that would be an afternoon at Lochranza Distillery, and while his partner does not like whisky — at all — she is taking one for the team with aplomb. Certainly the dryness and warmth of Lochranza’s visitor centre doesn’t hurt, not to mention a well-maintained bank of toilets doing brisk business. As one of Arran’s major attractions, Lochranza doubles as a tourist hub on the north part of the island. Given the distillery’s considerable footfall — numbering more than 80,000 annually, pre-pandemic — they have capably anticipated visitor needs, including a highly rated café (booking advised) and, crucially, an excellent cup of coffee (emphasis courtesy of Charles). That Lochranaza is quietly making one of Scotland’s best whiskies might seem like nothing more than a happy coincidence if that wasn’t the main purpose of your visit.
The visitor centre has a seasoned team in place, and staff here are well versed in Scottish hospitality. We have been greeted like returning friends and ushered into a screening room that mimics the charm of a Highland bothy. Properly done, an introductory film with the mandatory Scottish brogue is a fun start to any distillery tour, and Lochranza excels by focusing on the island’s tradition of illegal distilling dating back to the 1700s. With the lights back on, we are shepherded into the twee surrounds of the aptly named Dramming Room.
It’s soon apparent that we’ve a treasure in Scott, an Arranach whose retirement has brought him back to his native island to work at Lochranza, and indulge his passion for archaelogy. Scott is a personable and animated guide, well versed in both whisky and Arran’s rich heritage of bootlegging, and his enthusiasm is contagious. He regales us with stories of scaling the island’s mountainous terrain and unearthing the remains of illicit stills during the course of his archaelogical digs, all the while organizing our samples behind the bar.
Revisiting Arran’s core range after far too long is pure joy. To a tee these are toothsome, substantial whiskies, crafted with true malt drinkers in mind. Scott walks us through the Arran Quarter Cask followed by the Arran Sherry Cask and the Arran Sauternes Cask, and as excellent as these whiskies are, I’m simply taken aback by the stellar quality of the Arran 10 Year Old, a whisky that has now moved into my current pantheon of Scotland’s five best malts, the daily drinker edition.
Scott concurs, explaining that the ten-year-old is regarded as a tribute to Lochranza’s founder, Harold Currie, and as such is fashioned with extra care. I couldn’t agree more: Arran 10 Year Old sets a benchmark of excellence for not just the distillery, but for single malt Scotch at large. I could be happy with just this as my desert island dram.
Alas, the female half of our intrepid campers would disagree. True to form, she remains quiet yet steadfast in her distaste for uisge beatha as we move from sample to sample, though make no mistake, she is in no hurry to leave the warm confines of our Dramming Room, and her grit is commendable. A true professional, Scott is not just unphased, but quite relishes the challenge of a whisky heretic in the group, and he teases us with the 2023 edition of Arran 25 Year Old before generously offering a pour.
Success! Not only is the Arran 25 Year Old a worthy successor to my beloved ten-year-old, but our whisky atheist finds her deliverance and suddenly develops a taste for the cratur. Scott beams with quiet satisfaction, and ribs her other half about quality coming at a price. In the case of the Arran 25 Year Old that would be a mere £475 — or three nights at a hotel, take your pick (bearing in mind that the latter includes a cooked breakfast each morning).
The tasting ends after 90 minutes which leaves us time to browse the distillery’s Malt Shop, and we pick up a bottle of the Arran 25 Year Old for gifting, or so we tell ourselves. It’s an apt reminder that a tour delivered with genuine passion can often inspire a special purchase, and we applaud Scott for being able to keep such a disparate group engaged throughout the session.
Aside from whisky — Arran’s core range, limited editions and the requisite bottle-your-own — the Malt Shop is well prepared for the general tourist trade, stocking a wide selection of tasteful trinkets and local comestibles that include Arran cheese (yum!), Arran Gold chocolates (yum!) and Arran honey (yum!). The work of local artisans is featured prominently, and words like ‘sustainable’ and ‘organic’ abound. It’s a pleasant shopping experience for those with money to burn, and I myself am tempted by a Harris Tweed stag head that I didn’t realize I needed. Thankfully we had already sprung for the Arran 25 Year Old. Next time…
We head south on the A841 as we bid farewell to Lochranza, both the distillery and the village with its berth of holiday homes, maybe two of which will be lit in the off-season according to Scott. And we leave full of admiration: it’s a delicate balancing act, appealing to daytrippers in search of something ‘Highland’ while also satisfying true whisky aficionados. Lochranza manages to offer something for everyone. Gratefully it hasn’t gotten in the way of making a best-in-class whisky.
