Oban 15 Year Old Cask Strength Sherry Cask Finish Scotch Review
By Richard Thomas
Rating: B+
(Credit: Diageo)
Oban is one of those rare distilleries in Scotland that predates the 1823 Excise Act. That law made it much more feasible to operate a legal distillery, paving the way for the Scotch industry we know today. Founded in 1794, Oban saw the many common twists and turns common to a such a venerable part of the Scotch business, being sold and resold, closed and reopened in a long history that defies a brief summary here. Instead, I prefer to focus on some salient points that one might see if they were to visit the Oban Distillery of today.
First, Oban is in a proper town of the same name, making it one of a handful of urban distilleries in Scotland. That town is on the west coast of north-central Scotland, and keeping in mind the house style of making malt whisky, Oban straddles the boundary between the Highlands and the Islands in both a physical and a metaphorical sense. It’s also a small malt distillery, the second smallest in Diageo’s vast Scotch holdings.
This particular expression spent 11 years on a mix of American oak hogsheads and European oak butts. The hogshead is a rebuilt, enlarged American Standard Barrel, while the butt is an even larger cask commonly used in the Sherry industry. From there, the whisky was finished in Oloroso and Palo Cortado Sherry casks for four years, before bottling at 110 proof.
The Scotch
The look of the pour is that of a golden white wine, while the nose led with a paler element. It smelt of dry straw up front, but behind that were modest notes of stone fruits, lemon zest, some ash and very whole wheat bread dough. But overall, the nose was a light affair, despite the 55% ABV. Not so with the palate, which presented a fruity body of more stone fruits and golden raisins drizzled with honey, coupled to notes of almonds that make the whole thing kind of like a breakfast cereal… albeit, one that comes with a fair bit of peat smoke attached. The finish opened with melted brown sugar before that faded down to leave behind tea tannins.
I felt the whisky was held back a bit by the airy nose, which is an odd thing to say of a much stronger than usual Scotch. The rest of the experience, though, was lovely and rewarding.
The Price
This bottle should fetch $150 for the US, 750ml size.
