Oban

Date of tasting: 8/12 2007Appearance: Deep Gold or light copperNose: Relatively closed and prickly. The predominant impression is of some sort of kippery aroma. There are some leafy, spicy and fragrant hints, but they're all very suppressed. The diluted nose opens up a little bit to reveal some green tobacco whiffs along with some aniseed and kiwi fruits.Body: Medium lightPalate: Much less closed off than the nose, some warming, husky flavours, toasted oak and some sulphuric hints, but not to the point of being unpleasant. It's quite potent and mouth filling. The finish is long and warming.

App.: Dark gold on could say bright amber, a very little greenish? Anyway, the colour does not matter so much since it is adjusted with caramel.N.: The nose is really demanding: In the beginning there is nothing to sense exept a little malt and soft floral notes, but after leaving the glass untouched for a while, there is a soft sea breeze blowing, a deep syrupy sweetness and a soft winey arome in the background.T.: More wine (sherry?), but again very soft in the beginning, later it gets better: Spices, even a little black pepper, wood, dry leaves, fisherman's friend, but all in all kept in the very back of the whole. A little more presence of the single aromes would do better. F.: Hey, finally it gets interesting: The finish seems to be very long and multilayered, n! ow the aromes show up again, leaving prickly traces on the tongue, a very round and not to smooth finish, very pleasing with its soft bitter notes.C.: Am I wrong with my memory? When I visited Oban 5 years ago I was very pleased with a bottle of the regular 14 yo I bought after a visit of the distillery and was very pleased of the spicy sea breeze arome. Compared to my memory this new Oban bottle was disappointing. But sometimes memories seem better than reality....