The Isle of Arran features a hilly, cliffy geography that lends itself well to purifying a critical whisky ingredient – water. To wit, the water used for Arran single malt originates as rain drops falling into Loch Na Davie and is then purified by no less than six waterfalls before collection. In fact, the decision to build the distillery at Lochranza in 1994 was based solely on the quality of water available. Arran has only been producing spirit for 27 years, resulting in this 18-year-old expression being a relatively new offering. Being aged entirely in sherry casks in the presence of the warm Gulf Stream accounts for this dram’s fully matured presence.