Oban 21 Years Old 1996 Special Release 2018

This 21 year old was Oban's contribution to Diageo's 2018 Special Releases, a 1996 vintage bottled at cask strength, a rare older official from a distillery whose make is mostly reserved for its standard range. It comes from the little Argyll distillery working since 1794 in the West Highland town of Oban, one of the country's oldest surviving distilleries.

Maturation was in European oak, a wood with more tannin and spice than the usual bourbon barrel, over more than two decades. Oban's make is run slowly through the tiny lantern stills and condensed in the outdoor worm tubs for plenty of copper contact, the gentle and fruity make deepening across twenty one years in the active wood. European oak holds more of the spice compounds and tannin than the American oak Oban usually fills into, so even at the same age this edition carries a firmer, more structured character than the house norm.

Bottled at a natural 57.9%, it is rich and spiced. European oak gives eugenol for a clove and baking spice note alongside a firmer tannin, while slow oxidation builds dried fruit and old oak over Oban's honey and salt spray. The soft smoke runs through a long, structured finish that softens with a little water.