Oban 12 Years Old Heart of the Harbour

Heart of the Harbour was Oban's entry in Diageo's 2025 Special Releases, a 12 year old that puts the distillery's harbour town identity front and centre. The make comes from the tiny urban distillery started in 1794 by two local merchants, John and Hugh Stevenson, around which the fishing port of Oban later grew.

It matured in refill ex-Bourbon casks, soft wood that flatters the distillery's light, fruity spirit. That spirit is made slowly, long fermentation feeding the distillery's small stills whose vapour condenses in the outdoor worm tubs outside the still house, the generous copper contact tempering any heavier notes into a clean, coastal malt. Bottling a single distillery at cask strength like this lets the buyer add water to taste, opening the spirit gradually and judging the balance of fruit, salt and smoke for themselves.

Bottled at a natural 54.7%, it is fresh and full. The wood's lignin yields a clear vanilla, the wood lactones bring coconut and cream, and the cask sweetness lifts honey, lemon peel and orchard fruit over Oban's hallmark sea salt. A wisp of smoke runs through a long, gently salty finish, the strength easing with a little water.