2008 Oban 12 Year Old (Special Release 2021) Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Other reviews... Comprised of freshly charred American oak casks, this shows cream, citrus, vanilla, and salted caramel on the nose, with new wood spices, dry chile flakes, and star anise. Sweet tangy orange on the palate initially, becoming more marmalade-like, before a sustained wave of pepper rides in with flavors of salted caramel and peanut brittle. The cask strength makes all the difference here, delivering a more gutsy Oban than the standard bottlings. 88 points - whiskyadvocate.com, reviewed by: Jonny McCormick 2021

...Said to be a 2008 and to have been matured in fresh-charred American oak, although the label would say 'ex-bourbon and refill casks'. The official website also speaks of 'Oban's understated, easy-drinking style'. Not too sure about that part… Colour: white wine. Nose: certainly not as briney and deep as the old 14, and rather more spirity but that may well be the much higher alcohol. Overripe apples and a little beer, mustard and soap. With water: we're closer to its ancestor, even if there's no beeswax this time, no terpenic notes, no piney stuff... But the olives are back. It's a simpler but remember the 14 had spent more than thirty years in glass. Mouth (neat): good, if a little eau-de-vie-ish and even brutal. More beer or ale, orange bitters, indeed a touch of salt… I believe we're on the right track… With water: it's not that we recreated the old 14, but, well, quite so… Excellent pine resin and salt, liquorice, fino sherry (I know there isn't any, but Oban IS fino-y), and once again something clearly 'West-Coast'. Not talking about jazz here, eh… Finish: pretty long, tighter, with some salted kirschwasser would I say. One pickled gherkin in the aftertaste. Comments: really a style that I enjoy, very well done even if the old 14 remained out of reach all along. Oban is not malt whisky for tourists! 87 points - whiskyfun.com