Oban

Oban is one of the oldest working distilleries in Scotland. It is located in the picturesque coastal town of the same name, it produces a Highland single malt Scotch whisky. The distillery is owned by Diageo. Its 14-year-old single malt has formed part of the Classic Malts Selection since 1989.

Oban distillery produces a medium-bodied, lightly peated single malt. The spirit is fruity and slightly salty with maritime notes of seaweed and subtle smoke.

Oban is distilled from lightly peated malted barley.

Distillation takes place in a single pair of copper pot stills. The process runs slowly to maximise the contact between spirit vapour and copper. When vapours traverse the lyne arm they condense in traditional worm tubs.

Worm tubs are large wooden vessels. Inside, coiled copper tubing is submerged in water. As the spirit vapours travel along the tube they return to liquid form. At Oban, the water in the tub is warmed to slow the process down and further increase copper contact.

Oban matures most of its whisky in refill American oak ex-bourbon whiskey casks. The Distiller’s Edition is finished in ex-Fino sherry casks.

In 1780, John and Hugh Stevenson bought the island of Belnahua and used it to quarry slate. After securing land from the Duke of Argyll, they used the slate to build the town of Oban. 

At the heart of the town, they established a brewery. Within a year, however, their brewery had been converted into a distillery. It remained in the Stevenson family until 1866 when it was sold to local businessman Peter Cumstie. In turn, Cumstie sold to John Walter Higgin in 1883.

A devastating fire caused severe damage to the distillery in 1890. Only the prompt actions of the town's fire brigade saved it from complete destruction. Nevertheless, Higgin was forced to carry out a massive rebuild. Exact copies of the original pot stills were commissioned to preserve the character of the spirit. Much of the distillery as it is seen today was built at this time.

Higgin eventually sold to Alexander Edward, the famed entrepreneur behind Craigellachie and Aultmore distilleries. He would remain at the helm until Oban was amalgamated into DCL in 1930.

Oban's whisky featured in several blended Scotch brands, but the 1960s proved a difficult time for the distillery. Single malt was booming and distillers across Scotland were expanding to cope with the increase in demand for their spirits. However, Oban was pinned between the town’s high street and a steep cliff, with little room to grow.

In 1968, DCL announced that the distillery would close down. A change of heart in 1972 saw that decision reversed. Instead, the distillery was slightly expanded with the construction of a new still-house to the rear of the site.

The first 12-year-old Oban single malt was released in 1979. It was later upgraded to a 14-year-old when the whisky was chosen to represent the Western Highlands in Diageo’s Classic Malts Selection.

Alongside the standard 14-year-old, Oban bottles a Distiller's Edition finished in Fino sherry casks. The range expanded in 2015 with the release of Little Bay and the whisky sometimes features in Diageo's annual limited edition Special Releases. 

Despite being one of the smallest in Scotland, Oban attracts more than 50,000 visitors from all over the world to the distillery every year.