Kategoriarkiv: Oban

Highlands, Oban

Oban Distiller’s Edition 2006/2020

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and dry. At first there’s a mix of fresh and ripe fruits mixed with sweet honey. There are overripe dark fruits and liqeuer-soaked cherries, but after a few seconds the fruitiness becomes a bit brighter and some peaches and grapes start to come through together with vanilla. The background notes are somewhat medicinal and mineral rich. This is a very good nose with a nice array of things to discover.

Mouth: It starts out with somewhat spicy and quite medicinal. It’s dry and a big coffee and dark chocolate bitterness fills the background. There’s still a minerality within and the fruitiness is now all about the dark overripe fruits. The bitterness is dominating the palate and it feels a bit overwhelming after a while.

Finish: An initial dusty honey and vanilla note pass by quickly and leaves room for the bitter notes and a quite plain oakiness. It’s very dry and slightly astringent. The fruitiness is almost entirely gone and the finish is all about coffee, oak and dark chocolate. The medicinal side of it remain all through the finish though, and in the late finish there’s a tiny smoky and sulfury note residing behind everything else. This is a very good whisky with a complex but slightly unbalanced profile.

Additional information
This Distiller’s Edition is aged in american ex-bourbon barrels and then finished for at least 6 months in european ex-Montilla Fino sherry casks.

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Highlands, Oban

Oban 14 YO

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 2
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is fruity and fresh. At first there’s thin honey and vanilla layer surrounding a fruity fresh middle part. It’s lemon and green apples in abundance. When it starts to settle it slightly shifts towards oranges instead. There’s a floral side to it as well as a mild peatiness. There’s an aura of sweet white wine over the whole thing. After some time a sprinkle of cinnamon starts to emerge and the whole becomes maltier. This is a very nice and easy to approach nose. It’s not especially interesting to explore but delivers a nice array of flavours.

Mouth: It starts out with a surge of peat which quickly move out towards the edges of the palate. The middle becomes sweet and darker with a dark chocolate bitterness as a base plate. It’s nowhere near as fruity as it is on the nose. It’s more of a fuzzy mix of dades and oranges mixed with coffee and cacao. It does have a sharp lemon note in the back. It also feels quite spirity despite its age, which isn’t the greatest thing. There’s also an iodine and medicinal side to it which makes it a bit more interesting.

Finish: The fruitiness with oranges up front makes a big push forward through the transition. The peatiness stays around the edges and give room for the dark chocolate, coffee and now the oakiness to push through. The cinnamon returns as well as the medicinal note, but soon everything just crumbles and leaves a medicre, slightly bitter oakiness with a small layer of oranges left behind. This is a good yet weird whisky which is all over the place. A lot of the flavours are nice, but it’s quite hard to follow along. It really lacks a sense of direction.

Additional information
The Oban 14 YO is a part of Diageo’s ”The Classon Malts of Scotland” series. It’s aged mostly in refill american ex-bourbon barrels.

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Highlands, Oban

Oban Distiller’s Edition 2005/2019

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Highlands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dry and fruity. At first a dark, sweet fruitiness with honey, overripe dark fruits and liqeuer-soaked cherries covers everything else. After a few seconds the sweetness subsides and the fruitiness becomes a bit brighter and some peaches and grapes start to come through. There’s a minerality to it and the background notes are somewhat medicinal. With time in the glass there’s a vanilla note popping up somewhere behind the fruitiness. This is a very pleasant nose with some complexity to it.

Mouth: It starts out with a touch of spicyness and a medicinal note. It’s not especially sweet and the honey note is not able to push through. It’s quite dry and a hefty coffee and dark chocolate bitterness fills the background. There’s still a minerality within and the fruitiness is now very repressed as well. The bitterness is dominating the palate and it feels like it’s surpressing the oakiness at this stage.

Finish: An initial sweet honey and vanilla note pass by quickly and leaves room for the bitter notes and a nutty walnut oakiness. It’s very dry and slightly astringent. The fruitiness is almost entirely gone and the finish is all about coffee, oak and dark chocolate. The medicinal side of it remain all through the finish though, and in the late finish there’s a tiny smoky and sulfury note residing behind everything else. This is a great whisky with a surprisingly complex profile.

Additional information
This Distiller’s Edition is aged in american ex-bourbon barrels and then finished for at least 6 months in european ex-Montilla Fino sherry casks.