Oban 14 Year Old Single Malt
Oban was the first single malt scotch I ever tried and for this it will always occupy a special place in my heart. That first sip of single malt goodness was many years ago and since that fateful first sip I have made it a point to never buy the same scotch twice. I have in essence become scotch hobo, bouncing (virtually) from one distillery to the next; a veritable whisky vagabond. At the Aleppo Smoker a few weeks back, I had a sip of the Oban again to see if perhaps my memory was making more of it and than it actually was. That tasting brought me home and back to earth at the same time. I bought a bottle the very next day. After all, rules are made to be broken.
Most of the single malts I have reviewed on the site, to date, have come from the Speyside region of Scotland and the Oban is my first from the west coast of Scotland. The distillery is located smack dab in the middle of the coastal resort community of Oban; called the “Gateway to the Isles”. While officially considered a “Highland” variety; Oban, much like the town is more of a “Gateway to Islay Malts”. It is in essence a well balanced blend between the Speyside and Islay varietals of single malt scotch.
I still remember going through the most convoluted, unscientific selection process nearly ten years ago when I selected my first bottle of single malt scotch. I was immediately drawn to the simple, historic feeling of the packaging. It was clean, simple, and just had that look of “We’ve been doing this a while and we know what the hell we’re doing.” When I read that the malt master was a MacDougall (My Mother’s maiden name) I took it as a sign and put my $55.00 down on the table. When I pulled the bottle out of the tube, I was stunned by the beauty of the golden liquid inside and that color has since been my benchmark fro what a good single malt should look like. It is unfair, I know, but such is life.
This is one complex single malt with a lot of things going on at once. The nose is fragrant and sweet, but it is also telling you to look for smoke coming from the bottle. That there will be two sides to every story your senses will tell throughout the tasting. The body is full and substantial, but it is quite smooth and rich. The palate is warming and the overall taste is substantially more malty and smoky than the other single malts I have reviewed (except the Ardmore perhaps). The finish, on the other hand, is fruity, smooth, and quite long. In fact, it is without a doubt my favorite part.
The Oban 14 Y.O is still my favortite single malt, but I will say it isn’t quite as legendary as my memory had built it up to be. Still it is a mighty fine scotch and one I would recommend to just about anyone.
It’s driving me crazy that I can’t remember the name of that one Scotch I tried at the Allepo.
It was so smooth, subtle and complex!
I just remember it was hard to read the label from behind the counter. Do you remember it Dandy?
Unfortunately, I do remember that last one that practically removed the lining of my esophagus *shudder*
It was Glenfarclas, and it was quite good. What was the name of that last sample? That was pretty caustic stuff.