Oban Distillers Edition 15 Years Old 1998

This 15 year old comes from a 1998 vintage bottled in 2013, the Distillers Edition which finishes Oban in Montilla Fino sherry. The make is from the little distillery on the Oban shore, in production since 1794, set in the harbour town that later grew around it, working on two little stills.

After its ex-Bourbon ageing the whisky was finished in the palest, driest sherry. Oban builds its make on a long ferment and an unhurried distillation through lamp glass stills, the spirit cooled in wooden worm condensers warmed to keep the copper working, so it stays gentle and fruity for the Fino. The annual edition has run for decades, each release pairing the same West Highland spirit with a fresh batch of Montilla Fino casks, so the line reads as a long sequence of small vintage variations.

Bottled at 43%, it is dry and coastal. The pale sherry contributes almond, a nutty dryness and a clear brine rather than raisin, the oak adding only a light vanilla. Honey, orchard fruit and salt sit underneath, a faint smoke running through a finish that stays long and savoury. The whole is dry and maritime, the sherry seasoning the make rather than masking it.