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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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October 19, 2018 |
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Love Oban, Oban is great, the condensers are great, the people are great, the location is great… But there isn’t enough of it, for crying out loud! But indeed, the distillery’s tiny and the tourists numerous… |
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Oban 14 yo (43%, OB, +/- 2016) 
Could be 2017 as well. Sadly, Oban 14 seems to be almost gone, more or less, noiselessly… Colour: gold. Nose: what a great distillate. At a measly 43% it would still rock and kick, with these trademark mustardy notes, followed with sweeter orange-y notes, then hand cream, basalt, leather, and walnuts. There’s a wee dirtiness in the background, which is all for the better. Fruit peelings, a little mud perhaps. Mouth: extremely good, with some sweet mustard, fino sherry, walnuts, bitter oranges, and a touch of cardamom. The walnuts and the bitter oranges are running the show. Finish: incredibly long given the strength, and with more and more salt. Comments: wowie, what a great whisky! But where is Oban 14? Do they still make it? There cannot be any proper malt aficionado who wouldn’t have properly assessed Oban 14. Do it or stick with gin (or, yeah, bioethanol).
SGP:462 - 88 points. |
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Oban 21 yo 1996/2018 (57.9%, OB, Special Release, refill European oak butts) 
There was a 21 in 2013, and it’s been very good but not utterly stellar, according to this humble taster (WF 85). Will the regular 14 beat the new SR? Colour: gold. Nose: ha! Seriously, the 14 is in a whole different league. This is rather closed, spirity, one-dimensional, kind of skimpy, ethanoly, too yeasty… What happened? With water: no comprendo mucho this malt whisky. Dirty mash. Mouth (neat): not quite, this is raw, harsh, hot… With water: better, naturally, but curiously green, dirty-ish, a little feinty, with notes of mashed turnips and celeriac, parsnip, black root… sure you could intellectualise this in some sorts of ways, but frankly, it is not the most pleasant malt ever. Really surprising that Diageo would have ‘made’ this, but on the other hand, it does remind us of the Rare Malts. Indeed many Rare Malts were utterly and totally stellar, but a tiny few have been real rotguts that would have made you blind and bald if you weren’t careful. Finish: indeed. Cloves and caraway. Comments: looks like we’ve found the lame duck amongst this year’s SRs. The 14 was so much better in my book! But indeed, as always, only one man's opinion, and some whisky hooligans may even like this harsh baby a lot ...
SGP:371 - 78 points. |
 Check the index of all Oban we've tasted so far
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