I’ve always been a big fan of Oban. It’s one of the few distilleries that come to mind when I want something essentially “Highland” and with such a consistent house character that you know every bottle is going to contain that same predominant biscuity honey quality. Prices have crept up over the years, as they have with everything with the word “whisky” on the label, but I still think of Oban 14 as my go-to Highland malt.
You may have read my review of the Game of Thrones edition of Mortlach, which is worth revisiting if you’re currently asking yourself what this bottle has to do with “Game of Thrones”. As of this writing, there are still bottles of Oban “Night’s Watch” as well as some of the other Game of Thrones bottles in circulation. I suggest waiting until they go on another wave of closeouts, since Diageo still wants to see these bottles off their books. I wouldn’t pay the listed $60 to $70 for this bottle, but I sure as Hell would (and did) pay $25. At that price, I wish I’d bought three.
As usual with Diageo, there’s not much reliable information about what’s actually in the bottle. Oban uses lightly peated malt, which always surprises me because I rarely detect smoke in the glass. Oban Bay Reserve is a NAS (no age statement) whisky, so we know it’s at least 3 years old but more likely – and this is a total guess – between 9 and 12. It’s bottled at 43% ABV. Chill filtered and color-adjusted? Probably. Who knows.
Nose: Gentle fruit, with clear notes of plum, apricot, kiwi, and bubble gum. Aromatic, with nondescript floral notes and just enough tartness to be bright and inviting. Beneath that, clean honey and crisp sweet barley grains. Simple, but perfect in execution.
Palate: Moderate body. Intensely honeyed, with a short tongue burn. The honey is complete with beeswax (reminds me of Clynelish). Some of the fruits from the aroma are present, along with a layer of very slightly bitter charcoal, a mild vanilla oakiness, and a floor of standard malty cereal.
Finish: Medium-short. Turns nutty quickly, with blanched almonds and toasted walnuts. The fruit runs out right away, and it ends dry but without much bitterness.
With Water: A few drops of water seem to wash away the aromatic high notes, including the best fruit. The palate seems thinner. Skip the water here.
Overall: A very straightforward, tasty dram that is exactly what you expect from a not-quite-fully-mature Oban. The finish is on the short side and feels incomplete, but the aroma is fantastic and the palate keeps up. I would happily buy more of this at the current bargain basement price of $25, and would even be satisfied to have paid $40. Pity I didn’t get more when it was on sale.
About The Distillery
Located in the West Highlands, actually situated on the western seacoast of Scotland, Oban sits across the Firth of Lorn from the Isle of Mull. One of Diageo’s “Classic Malts”, its water comes from Loch Gleann a Bhearraidh, the town reservoir. This whole area is made up of old volcanic lava flow rock. Steel mash tun, larch washbacks, and only two small “lamp glass”-shaped stills with traditional wooden worm tubs.
It’s incredibly unfair to see the prices you’re paying, fyi 😉 (Oban 14 is $125 in Ontario, Canada and Little Bay is about $100). I’ve heard rumours that this is essentially a re-packaged Oban Little Bay. Thoughts on that?
Hi Joel. The prices in this case are for closeouts – these GoT bottlings were all $70+ originally, but the surplus is being marked down as much as 75% in some places, or was. I pretty much ignored the GoT bottlings until they were 75% off. 🙂 It’s possible this is Little Bay, but all of the GoT bottlings are -slightly- different from OB standard expressions, and they made VAST quantities for global distribution, so I’d assume there are some mild differences in barrel composition or ‘recipe’. Who knows, though, right? It’s Diageo. *eyeroll*
That pricing makes more sense, I suppose. I almost bought a few of these bottlings (Talisker, Lagavulin, Oban), even at the inflated Ontario prices, simply because I was a fan of GoT. But in this one instance my common sense prevailed. As to Diageo, well, the only good thing I can say about them is they’ve got a sense of humour. Dr Nick WhatsHisFace once referred to his company as “Glen Mordor” on a podcast, so at least they KNOW they’re the bad guy.