Review #39: Oban Little Bay

Distillery: Oban

Region: Highlands

ABV: 43%

Age: NAS

Price: $45

Color: 1.1, Burnished. Unfortunately color added and chill-filtered.

Nose (according to the wife): A mix of spices with a bit of pepper and fresh coming through. It’s got a bit of honey as well.

Palate: Medium mouthfeel. There’s some sweetness up front in the form of honey and fresh peaches. The spices from the nose show up in the palate as well, especially the pepper and fresh oak. The real star though is the slight bits of sea salt chocolate that you get here and there. Fantastic.

Finish: Medium in length, some more of the spice blend but mainly fresh oak.

Conclusion: Oban makes some fine whisky and this one is no exception. While the nose and the finish are a tad boring, the palate is lovely. You get several wonderful bits of flavor in the fresh fruit and the spices but I loved the slight bits of sea salt chocolate. In my reviews of the 14 and 18 year editions, I thought the sea salt notes were either too much or too little. In this one, however, they got it just right. I wish I could take that piece and drop it into the other two. Or perhaps this just needs to mature a bit longer as it does come off a bit young with all of that freak oak. In either case, this will probably be one I keep a bottle of.

Final Score: 80

Scotch whisky review #39, Highland review #9, Whisky Network Review #55