Finish:Short to medium length with a lovely level astringency.A sprinkle of pepper, a touch of cigar tobacco and still that pervasive deep malt. The finish does benefit from some time spent resting in the glass – straight out of the bottle it can seem very short indeed, but it does lengthen, and indeed deepens once it has had a bit of 02. The highlands off the coast of the Hebrides archipelago include an array of islands once home to vibrant small distilleries resembling Oban in many ways. But as global consumption of scotch diminished in the latter half of the 20th century and many producers were acquired by major international spirits producers, and market forces caused the closure of many of these Island distilleries. Nose: Distinct malty sweetness, with a faint saline mineral note and hint of smoke. Mint, oak, almonds, and butterscotch.

The Macallan — by contrast — has an enormous, recently renovated distillery compound that aims to help the luxury brand take advantage of rabid consumer demand in the luxury drinks market by increasing supply. Nose: Sweet, salty and earthy. The earthy tones come through like freshly tilled soil. Lots of iodine and herbs. Hints of orange marmalade and green banana provide sweet undercurrents. And just a puff of smoke makes an appearance.For today's tasting we're going to take a look at the 14 year old - the Western Highland entry in the Classic Malt series. Both Oban 14 and the Macallan 12 are Age Statement Whiskies — meaning the number of years printed on the label is legally required to reflect the youngest casks in any particular batch. The Oban facility is relatively small — just over 46,000 square feet — and all of its spirits come off two stills — one beer still and one spirit still. And the entire plant is operated by a production crew of only seven people. Their small capacity helps explain Oban’s small volume and availability on the international marketplace. The Macallan has 24 stills housed under sloping turf-domed roofs alternately said to resemble the rolling Scottish countryside, the ancient Scottish ‘Broch’ or roundhouse or the opening scene from the children’s television show ‘Teletubbies.’

Oban distillery ( / ˈ oʊ b ə n/ ⓘ OH-bən; [1] Scottish Gaelic: Taigh-stail an Òbain) is a whisky distillery in the Scottish west coast port of Oban. Established in 1794, it was built before the town of the same name, which sprang up later in the surrounding craggy harbour. [2] Description: In the glass, Oban 14 is the color of amber, or polished mahogany with a red-brown hue. It has moderate legs at 86-proof. Today, there are five official whisky regions, which are tied to scotch’s unique region of geographic indication allowing it to be a protected product in international trade through pacts with the European Union, the United States and most of the whisky-consuming world. But when the UK government updated the Scotch Whisky Regions in 2009, they discontinued a historical region — the Islands — and rolled it into the Highlands. Oban distillery is owned by Diageo. It has only two pot stills, making it one of the smallest in Scotland, producing a whisky that has been described as having a "West Highland" flavour that falls between the dry, smoky style of the Scottish islands and the lighter, sweeter malts of the Highlands. [3] History [ edit ]Oban 14 year old can often be found sitting on many the pub/bar whisky shelf – it is overlooked far more often than it should be. Whilst I’d probably appreciate an extra 3% of ABV punch to help deliver the flavours, this is still a well-balanced and highly drinkable whisky. The combination of sweetness from the fruits and bitterness from the wood is well judged and never becomes too much of one or the other. Finish: The finish features more salted meats with a smokey and dry finish. The peat comes to life on the finish and lingers and coalescences with the wood notes leaving you with quite a dry finish. Oban is a Western Highland Scotch distillery and brand owned by Diageo. Founded in 1794 at Argyll, the distillery was initially operated as a brewery but began distillation shortly after. Like many of Scotland’s distilleries, ownership changed multiple times, and the distillery was modernized, too. Today, Oban is said to be the second smallest distillery owned by Diageo when it comes to production capacity, at 870,000 liters per year.