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Oban 14 Year Old

24 Days of Christmas: Day 2!

0 473

@SquidgyAshReview by @SquidgyAsh

25th Dec 2012

0

  • Nose
    20
  • Taste
    18
  • Finish
    18
  • Balance
    17
  • Overall
    73

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

My wife just picked me up a 24 bottle whisky sample pack for Christmas. She picked it up from Master of Malt based off my oh so very subtle hints based off an email I sent her asking for it for Christmas.

This was a good thing as up to then neither of us really had an idea on a good gift for me for Christmas.

Even better is that the large majority of whisky samples in the pack were from whiskies/distilleries that I'd never tried before and a couple of the whiskies that I had tasted before I'd never sat down and contemplated them before so even better!

The first sample I tried was a Dalwhinnie 15 yr old and the next one up was a whisky I'd tasted before, but under less then ideal conditions.

Oban 14 yr old.

Now the first time I'd tried this whisky was in an Irish restaurant, after discovering that this was the only whisky they had that I'd never tried before.

Sadly the dram came out in a massive tumbler, from a half full bottle which after trying this sample seems like it was largely oxidized.

So I decided to crack open this sample next in order to give it a try.

Nosing it in it's glencairn the first odors to hit the nose is citrus with honey, then oak develops with peat smoke and always an undertone of salt.

Interesting nose, especially with the salt, but honestly not a nose that makes me eager to take a sip.

However whisky isn't just for nosing, it's also for tasting.

Odd palate. Sweet with salty. Pears, apples, vanilla, honey and through it all is salt.

A drying mouthfeel and finish. Faint fruit and lingering salt ends the whisky.

This for me had the potential to be a really cool whisky, especially with the salt, however sadly the salt dominates every aspect of this whisky.

I'd still call this an entry level single malt, however at $85 or so AUS it's not a whisky that I'd ever pick up in it's current form.

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4 comments

@Jae
Jae commented

A very interesting review, makes me want to try some. Ive had it a few times before...but years ago before I actually tasted whisky properly, and I cannot recall its taste at all. The saltiness sounds interesting, is it a strong sea salt type of taste?

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

Definitely my friend! Actually sort of reminds me of when I'm at the beach and the waves are coming in high and I get knocked to my knees and I wind up swallowing some water. But more pleasant :D Definitely worth a taste!

11 years ago 0

Scoey1975 commented

Squidge, the missus bought me a bottle of this stuff for 2012 Christmas ( I gave her a list and told her to pick one) I really wanted her to pick me up a bottle of lagavulin but it was out of stock at DMs... But I must say I do enjoy how smooth this whisky is. I bring it out on the odd occasion mainly due to the fact I want it to last because of the price. Not my fave scotch but very nice nonetheless...

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

@Scoey1975, it's definitely not a bad whisky at all and I hope that I didn't give that impression in the review, I've certainly had whiskies that were much worse, for me it was more about bang for buck. I think at a higher strength, even 46% it would have jumped my score up by 3 or 4 points. However in it's current form it just didn't hold my interest, however it does make me curious and want to start hunting for a cask strength Oban now :D

11 years ago 0

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