Oban 11 Year Old (Special Release 2023)

As old as the town it’s named after (or older), John & Hugh Stevenson built a brewery in 1793, with distillation recorded from 1794. The distillery’s current buildings date back to around the 1880/90s though, and after briefly closing in the 1960s, the current stillhouse was built in 1972. Located both by the sea and on a high street, it’s a small distillery with a single pair of stills. It’s also another (along with Talisker) of the small number to use traditional worm tub condensers. Usually this leads to a heavier, meatier spirit, but by running their worm tub warmer at Oban, they prolong copper contact for a lighter result (Glen Elgin and Royal Lochnagar distilleries operate in a similar way).

Here their light, fruity, coastal spirit has been finished in Caribbean pot still rum casks for a Diageo Special Release dubbed ‘The Soul of Calypso’! It’s bottled at natural cask strength.