Oban 14 years old Single Malt whisky review, comment, price and food pairings
The single malt Oban age 14 years old is a peaty whisky, stormy, but very gentle, well-balanced and elegant bouquet. It is produced by the ancient and renowned Oban distillery, which has been creating spirits for more than 200 years, in short, the Oban boys were not born yesterday.
But why should we choose this Scotch whiskey instead of the more famous ones, Lagavulin, Ardbeg or Caol Ila?
The answer is very simple and at the same time represents its greatest strength and weakness: this Oban 14 is a peaty, smoky and shady whiskey, but it has been made softer and more rounded than the other Islay competitors.
Small geographical note: beware the Oban distillery is not on the island of Islay. If you want to visit it from Islay, you will have to take the ferry.
Of course, there are many iodized scents and flavors of the sea, it is always a child of peat, however the attempt to harness all these extreme flavors in a slightly forced and malty pleasure is undeniable and well perceptible.
Not that it is bad, indeed it is a good peaty Scotch whiskey, but let’s say that it does not want to aim for first place, it is content with pleasure, winks with an intense peaty, but not exaggerated, very nuanced by returns of honey, caramel and ripe fruit.
Even the same aging in wood is quite opaque, notes of oak and walnut emerge on the nose, which somewhat limits the savory momentum that it potentially would have.
Having said that, it is definitely worth buying, it is not technically inferior to the others, only slightly weighed down by sweet and winking tones.
Maybe try it before you buy a bottle, if you’re looking for an uncompromising Ardbeg-style peaty whiskey, we’re not at that level.
The bouquet
The nose is broad, very spicy filled with sweet notes of dates, peaches, caramelized oranges, then traces of peat, oak and honey. As a nose it is splendid, it knows how to alternate all the seasons of the best whiskeys, with incredible changes of pace. Switch from herbaceous to mellifluous tones, passing through citrus and vanilla. With the sea roaring with arrogance in the background.
What does Single Malt Oban 14 years old taste like?
And all this sumptuousness is also present in the mouth, where the game between sweetness, flavor, spiciness and alcoholic heat titillates the palate, but perhaps it gets lost a bit and becomes a victim of itself. The balance is quite good, the finish suffers from a spicy heaviness that tends to flatten the entire alcoholic structure. Not bad, but not excellent either.
In summary, it is an interesting whiskey that takes various characteristics of other districts and enhances them, the final result is not so obvious and although it is peaty and marine, it has an underlying sweetness-softness that could be unsettling.
Single Malt Oban 14 years food pairings
If during the review we seemed critical it is just to prepare you, but we must say that when it comes to food-whiskey combinations this 14-year-old Oban is a monster. Its sweet-salty, smoky and structured nature lends itself to great combinations with salmon, chocolate, cakes, terrines. It wins the award as the most food-friendly whiskey ever. With the chocolate mousse, it is divine.