A cute gimmick as far as gimmicks go, the still run to produce this particular cask was started on December 31st, 1999 and ended after midnight on 1 January, 2000 – thus intending to span the turn of the Millennium. Sadly, they were off by a year, as the 20th century ended only at 11:59:59 PM 2000, ushering in the third millennium a full year after this (see Wikipedia here). Nevertheless, this expression works well.
In making this expresson, the product of this run was put into 35 ex bourbon barrels and 10 sherry hogsheads, which matured until 2013, when the combined whisky was filled into 7800 bottles.
Thank you Raviv for sharing this sample with me!
Isle of Arran Millennium Cask, 1/7800 (53.5% ABV, NCF, NC)
Appearance: Straw, quick legs but significant residue of drops on the glass.
Nose: Sweet fresh grass, citrus, confectionery, oatmeal, vinegar and nutmeg, pound cake and light sandalwood with a hint of cumin. Some water draws out the sweet candy notes, leaning towards cotton candy.
Palate: Fresh fruit and spicy nuts, with the sharp pepper spices getting stronger when left on palate and some hidden honey.
Linger: long, with pepper, cumin and peppermint notes, together with some lemony freshness. The inside of the cheeks remain a little tarty with the linger.
Conclusion
While not technically THE millennium cask, this is a nice whisky, with the combination of ex bourbon and ex sherry casks doing their jobs quite well.