[Review] Oban - 14 years old 43%

I have come back to France for a couple of weeks and as I am back home, I am making the most of my parents' drinks cabinet to explore the different whiskies they are drinking. One they have mentioned quite a bit is Oban 14, so I decided to put it forward for this "holiday post". 

Oban is part of the "Classic malts of Scotland", a group of whiskies from the Diaggeo company, which allows you to try whiskies (from distilleries they own of course) from the different regions of Scotland: Gelnkinchies (Lowland), Dalwhinnie (Highland), Cragganmore (Speyside), Talisker (Skye), Lagavulin (Islay) and of course Oban (West Highland).

I was told a few times that Oban 14 is a very good middle-of-the-road single malt, which should appeal to pretty much any whisky drinker. One the guys from the Whisky Shop told me that it's a good one if you want to get a present to a whisky drinker without knowing exactly what he/she likes in terms of flavours.

Oban is bottled at 43% ABV. It doesn't state that it is unchill-filtered or natural colour so I presume it has been chill-filtered and colouring has been added to produce a very nice golden colour.

Nose: Citrus, vegetal and sweet, some orange notes, some sherry nuttiness and hints of salt.

Palate: Sweet and fruity first, rich, dried fruit, orange, bitter orange even, some spices.

Finish: Lingering citrus and sweetness, still some bitterness.

With water: Not too different on the nose, just a bit sweeter, more caramel, vanilla and oak on the palate and more nut of the finish. Still bitter orange stretching to some Cointreau notes.

Oban 14 is a very pleasant dram. I would agree it doesn't have one main bold flavour and would appeal to more occasional drinkers. I do find a certain amount of bitter orange too, which is quite unusual amongst the malts I tend to drink. A different experience for me!