Undoubtedly, one of the most famous and popular Hungarian wine is Tokaji. The Hungarian family business, WhiskyNet who is dealing with premium spirits dreamed of a combination of the unique, sweet aromas of Tokaji aszú with a premium Scottish single malt whisky.

They searched for the right partner for a long time. The most suitable for this task seemed to be the Scottish Arran Distillery, which is already well-known in the international world of whisky.

Arran's high-quality single malt whiskys are matured on the beautiful island of Arran, which has a special climate under the influence of the Gulf Stream. The island’s first, but not the only, distillery began its operation in the mid-1990s.

In July 2019, the Hungarian company (in cooperation with the Patricius winery) sent a carefully selected a 136-liter Tokaji aszú barrel to the island of Arran, into which a more than 10-year-old Arran single malt whiskey was filled for finishing.

This is how the Arran 12-year-old Tokaji Cask Finish was born by the autumn of 2020. Wonder what is the secret of the Tokaji aszú barrel? The sweetness of the Tokaji barrels and their aroma of raisins gives excellent richness and harmony to citrusy, vanilla whiskys of Arran.

It is no coincidence that this is the fifth time when the single malt of Arran is made quite unforgettable by the staves of the Tokaji aszú barrel. The sweet aromas play harmoniously with the fruity flavours of the whisky in this bottle as well.

Clément Rare Cask Tokaji Finish

It is worth mentioning that another new bottling has recently entered the Hungarian spirit market: the Rum Clément Rare Cask Tokaji Finish which is the bottling of the premium rum producer Clément and was matured in Tokaji barrels.

The Clément Rare Cask Tokaji Finish rum is an Agricole type premium rum that was distilled on 1st October 2016 and then aged in barrels on the fabulous island of Martinique.

In July 2019, the rum was transferred to Tokaji aszú barrels selected and shipped by WhiskyNet for finishing, so the spirit was enriched with an additional, raisin-sweet layer. It was bottled in April 2020 with a unique Hungarian label and tasting notes and now it is available for the Hungarian rum lovers too. It is important to note that the Tokaji aszú barrel also came from the Patricius winery. This strictly limited exclusive edition is also available in a wooden gift box version.

While the whiskey was matured in cooler Scotland, the rum was matured in the hot Caribbean. It is worth to taste both spirits to see how the same type of barrel, at the same time, affects a whiskey and a rum in a cooler and warmer climate.

Additional information

What does rhum agricole mean?

The so-called rhum agricole was mainly popular in the countries under the former French influence (Haiti, Guadeloupe, Martinique). This phrase refers to those rums which are not fermented and distilled from the cheaper and more commonly used molasses, but which are distilled from freshly squeezed sugar cane. In this case, the sugar cane must be harvested and used at the peak of its ripening, so the production of rum is limited to a very short period.

French people prefer to regulate almost every production process to achieve the right quality.

Arran 12-year-old Tokaji Cask Finish is available in Hungary via WhiskyNet