LeeEvolved
Oban Little Bay
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
February 26, 2017 (edited January 20, 2020)
Okay, my first sample from the Scotland Distillery Trade group is officially in the books. This one was graciously supplied by my friend Ryan. It's 43% alcohol, non-chill filtered but I believe there is color added to this NAS offering. This bottle runs just north of $50 and is a steal IMO.
One funny thing I feel like pointing out first, though, is the name. Apparently Oban translates to "little bay" in Gaelic. So, in essence, this could've been called Oban Oban. I just found that a bit funny. Moving on.
I had the pleasure of trying this beside a sample of the Oban 18 year old just to see if the bloodlines run connected. That was were I made a startling discovery- but more on that later...
The nose is beautifully complex: toffee, extra sweet honey, peaches and a hearty oak presence. They all swirl around wonderfully in the glass. I'm liking where this is heading.
The palate is loaded (like the 18yo) with crisp, green apples, juicy apricots and pears all in front of a backdrop of lively, young oak. It's just peppery enough to keep the sweetness in check. This all just works so well together and fades into an incredible finish. It's got a tropical feel to it at first, as all the orchard fruits fall away, but it finishes long, spicy and a tad bit syrupy.
This is where I was taken by surprise- the Little Bay and the 18yo look identical, smell very similar and actually have a very close flavor profile. The Little Bay is a bit more lively due to the smaller, ex-bourbon casks used. The exposure to those barrels really adds a kick to an already excellent dram.
So, while this was an excellent way to kick off my journey with my new trading group, I'm disappointed in the fact that Little Bay overshadows its bigger, older brothers (the 14 & 18 year olds). If you factor in the price it's even more of a shock to me.
Overall, if you guys are in the market for an Oban bottle, pony up the extra $5-6 over the 14yo and pocket the $65-70 savings from the 18yo, and drink the best of the trio- the Oban Oban. Trust me, this is a no brainer. This is a perfect example of bigger not always being better. Cheers, my friends.
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Liquor here in Virginia is state controlled- they set the selling price and the tax. There's no individual sellers that would create competitive pricing. Virginia decides what you pay, period. All spirits are sold in their stores and during whatever days and hours they deem appropriate. We actually just got Sunday sales a couple of years ago. There are, however, plenty of locations around the state. I have 3 stores within 5 miles of my apartment. Sadly, their stock is very similar, too. I have to drive to Richmond to get to a store with a healthy scotch selection. I'm just thankful they haven't banned internet sales- I can get just about anything I really want and comparison shop to my heart's content.
@Leeevolved - a month or so ago I found a bottle (a little dusty) of Caol Ila at a small liquor store for $49. It was the only bottle and I bought it. I asked the owner if more was coming and he wasn't sure. He said single malt scotch availability is unpredictable these days. I looked online and saw that most retailers are selling it from between $72 and $79 around here. I lucked up on one last week for $59 and picked it up because there are some folks at work I wanted to share it with. Again, it was the only bottle on the shelf in that particular store, and I'd bet when the next shipment comes in they'll label it at $75. On a related note, I just shelled out $99 for Lagavulin 18, which not long ago was fetching around $60. So, I believe you're correct. We're going to be holding onto our wallets. Our favorite drams are launching skyward.
State tax variances on alcohol I think. NJ is middle of the pack I think. I thought Alaska was the highest (not to mention the sheer transportation logistics). Countries are the same. I remember on a vacation to Norway, we didn't even bother getting wine----was such a heavy tax on it. As opposed to Spain...I felt that the wine was cheaper than water there!
@Erogers- wow, the price discrepancies around the country is insane. $160 for the 18 is absurd. I do believe we are going to see quite a noticeable jump in prices overall in the next couple of years. Popularity of spirits is on the rise and a lot of distilleries haven't amped up production fast enough. Hold on to your wallets...
$99 USD in Tampa area. The 14 is up to $81.99 and the 18 is pushing $160.
Looking forward this tasting especially after reading your review. I was never impressed by the 14 and always wanted to sample the 18. This sounds like the perfect balance between quality and cost.
I just posted for Wolfburn, Glenmo Milsean, and Edradour Caledonia as well. Looking forward to trying the rest of these!
A nice way to kick off the SDT. Can't wait to sample it. I spent some time with my Cragganmore over the weekend and it's growing on me. I'll be hopefully posting my review of it tonight
I think it was last year, I participated in this NAS vs Aged blind taste test arranged by Oliver Klimek (from Dramming.com...which I think is folded now). He sent several samples which we tasted blind, and had to pick which we liked more of the batches. It turned out that there was a slight preference to Aged over NAS across the board. Not an overwhelming amount, but still...enough. Was interesting to see the final results---tasted blind, most folks preferred the Aged over NAS
Agreed! I know few, or actually no NAS offering that are 10 years or older. There are some NAS whisky that rock: take Ardbeg Uigeadail for example. However, it makes me angry when I see fancy NAS offerings with gaelic names that fall apart when tasting them side by side with an aged whisky. Just recently, all Dalmore's with age statement (12, 15, 18) were replaced by NAS offerings in the travel retail market. Prices are even higher for these malts! Obviously, there are enough people shopping on airports who have more money than sense...
@ Slainte- Yes, this one shocked me quite a bit. I'm usually skeptical about a lot of recent NAS offerings and had I not had the 18 right there beside this one I wouldn't believe it. I still hold firmly to my belief that age statement scotch is the way to go, but there are exceptions to that rule. This is one of those times the distiller is correct in saying that their juice is still amazing, even when it's less than a decade old (This is solely my claim that most NAS whisky is under 10 years of age. It seems like most distilleries would add an age statement to a bottling over that amount as a way to capitalize monetarily on the fact).
Excellent review, as always! If this malt just had an age statement... With these bottlings, I often get the impression I pay more for less, although it seems to be a decent dram. Cheers!
$50! It's $98 in the only store up here that has it. Stupid arcane state liquor laws.
Nice! One down, about a few dozen more to go