Oban used to be one of my favorites, but my last bottle of Little Bay was hard to finish, and the 2023 Distiller's Edition was a total disappointment and a waste of a lot of money ($124). The use of cheap casks came to mind, so I feel validated by this review. 🥃
Yeah, 1998-2003 Oban and Talisker were my favourites. Their parent company has steadily been running them into the ground for over the last couple of decades though. I never drink Diageo products on principle.
Bunnahabien, Ledaig, Tobermory, Kilchoman, Port Charlotte/Bruichladdich, Ardnamurchan, Springbank, Arran/Lagg, Deanston, Glencadam etc etc - ALL the best distilleries are non-Diageo!
@Martin-uj7wj There are over 120 distilleries in Scotland alone without including Diageo (not to mention all the distilleries around the world), so I think there's still plenty of selection without Diageo. The only three Diageo distilleries I really like are Caol Ila, Talisker, and Mortchlach, but I can certainly do without them. I'd rather drink Port Charlotte 10, Arnamurchan AD, and Bunna 12, for example . . they are cheaper, no color added, 46% and up, NCF.
@Martin-uj7wj If you drank all of those products when they were good ('90s-mid'00s), then you wouldn't touch them now. A company selling the "same thing" with a huge reduction in quality and for more money? Hahahaaa-No Thanks. I'll stick with my memories of the good versions and the taste of the better presented new drams.
@Martin-uj7wj No urban myth, and I started drinking single malts in the early '90s. People have done side-by-side comparisons of '90s Talisker (for example) with recent bottlings and the difference is "night and day" in the words of one whiskytuber. I'm happy for you if you're finding value + flavour with IBs of Diageo malts, but you're missing the point - you shouldn't HAVE TO look for IBs of these brands for quality as they were great before the distilleries became about investor profit margins. I'm not a massive fan of Springbank... I think it's very solid whisky but doesn't deserve the hype & inflated prices it goes for. The regular Port Charlotte 10 is good value at 50-60 quid in today's market. It sh@ts all over Laga 16 for example.
First off, I agree that the 43% and coloring is bullshit and it would be better with better specs. I do like Oban 14 though and some of the special editions (not so much the latest though). It has kind of a starfruit note, that is different and better than the straight pear note that I get from many other whiskies. I also like the saltiness/brine a lot, and the light sweetness. To say that low cask influence is just for blends or beginner drinkers is wrong in my opinion. I almost think the opposite is true. A whisky where the distillate is totally overrun by first fill active sherry or bourbon barrels is reduced to just the barrels. I like that as well, but I do think it becomes close to a cocktail at some point, and not a real whisky, where you might as well mix the whisky with wine, sherry, syrup or bourbon, because that's what you like anyway. That said, I still appreciate the review, even if we disagree on some stuff here
Thinking of picking up another Oban to give the distillery another try. Would like a Cask strength release to get a better impression of what the liquid really is. Just so hard to pull the trigger given the price of the special releases.
I can recommend the 2021 and the 2022. The 2021 is most like a straight up Oban but with cask strength and bolder flavors, and the 2022 has some white wine notes that are interesting (The 2024 is alright but not as good as them). I like them both a lot, however I will say that the saltyness/brine is less noticable in these versions than the standard 14, which is a shame. That part of it is masked by the other parts
Oban used to be one of my favorites, but my last bottle of Little Bay was hard to finish, and the 2023 Distiller's Edition was a total disappointment and a waste of a lot of money ($124). The use of cheap casks came to mind, so I feel validated by this review. 🥃
Yeah, 1998-2003 Oban and Talisker were my favourites. Their parent company has steadily been running them into the ground for over the last couple of decades though. I never drink Diageo products on principle.
Bunnahabien, Ledaig, Tobermory, Kilchoman, Port Charlotte/Bruichladdich, Ardnamurchan, Springbank, Arran/Lagg, Deanston, Glencadam etc etc - ALL the best distilleries are non-Diageo!
@Martin-uj7wj There are over 120 distilleries in Scotland alone without including Diageo (not to mention all the distilleries around the world), so I think there's still plenty of selection without Diageo. The only three Diageo distilleries I really like are Caol Ila, Talisker, and Mortchlach, but I can certainly do without them. I'd rather drink Port Charlotte 10, Arnamurchan AD, and Bunna 12, for example . . they are cheaper, no color added, 46% and up, NCF.
@Martin-uj7wj If you drank all of those products when they were good ('90s-mid'00s), then you wouldn't touch them now. A company selling the "same thing" with a huge reduction in quality and for more money? Hahahaaa-No Thanks. I'll stick with my memories of the good versions and the taste of the better presented new drams.
@Martin-uj7wj No urban myth, and I started drinking single malts in the early '90s.
People have done side-by-side comparisons of '90s Talisker (for example) with recent bottlings and the difference is "night and day" in the words of one whiskytuber.
I'm happy for you if you're finding value + flavour with IBs of Diageo malts, but you're missing the point - you shouldn't HAVE TO look for IBs of these brands for quality as they were great before the distilleries became about investor profit margins.
I'm not a massive fan of Springbank... I think it's very solid whisky but doesn't deserve the hype & inflated prices it goes for. The regular Port Charlotte 10 is good value at 50-60 quid in today's market. It sh@ts all over Laga 16 for example.
The 12 yo Oban from the 2021 special release is a banger 🤩
Agreed.
That's what I've heard. Haven't had a chance to try that one. Hopefully this year's release gets a bump in quality from the last year or two.
First off, I agree that the 43% and coloring is bullshit and it would be better with better specs.
I do like Oban 14 though and some of the special editions (not so much the latest though). It has kind of a starfruit note, that is
different and better than the straight pear note that I get from many other whiskies.
I also like the saltiness/brine a lot, and the light sweetness.
To say that low cask influence is just for blends or beginner drinkers is wrong in my opinion.
I almost think the opposite is true.
A whisky where the distillate is totally overrun by first fill active sherry or bourbon barrels
is reduced to just the barrels. I like that as well, but I do think it becomes close to a
cocktail at some point, and not a real whisky, where you might as well mix the whisky with wine,
sherry, syrup or bourbon, because that's what you like anyway.
That said, I still appreciate the review, even if we disagree on some stuff here
I really want to pick up a bottle of this but it's now £85 here in the UK. That's a considerable price increase. Maybe for Christmas.
Thinking of picking up another Oban to give the distillery another try. Would like a Cask strength release to get a better impression of what the liquid really is. Just so hard to pull the trigger given the price of the special releases.
I can recommend the 2021 and the 2022. The 2021 is most like a straight up Oban but with cask strength and bolder flavors, and the 2022 has some white wine notes that are interesting (The 2024 is alright but not as good as them). I like them both a lot, however I will say that the saltyness/brine is less noticable in these versions than the standard 14, which is a shame. That part of it is masked by the other parts