Review #954 - Oban 10 Year Special Release 2022 Re-Review
We don't revisit whiskies too often in our reviews, but recently we tried this Diageo Special Release from Oban distillery again, and we were surprised with how much it has opened up over the past few years. This whisky came out back in 2022, so it's been sitting in the bottle with a decent amount of air for 3 to 4 years now; we originally reviewed it back in July 2023, within our first hundred whisky reviews.
This Oban carries a 10 year age statement; on their website, Diageo calls this a "double maturation," but we would consider this more of a finished whisky. The initial aging time was spent in a combination of refill bourbon casks and new American oak; after that, this was finished in 'ex-sherry and Amontillado-seasoned casks.' Amontillado is a type of sherry itself, so perhaps they mean there's also a bit of influence from another time of sherry, maybe Oloroso? Either way, the color of this liquid is relatively light, so we don't think it was a heavy influence.
Despite the high prices that Diageo typically charges for these Special Release bottlings, there is one thing we love about them: they're bottled at natural cask strength, so we should get a chance to see more of the full potential of the Oban spirit.
Oban 10 Year Special Release 2022
Scotland/Highland - Single Malt
Price: USD 145 (2026)
Age Statement: 10 Years
Strength: 57.1% ABV
Cask Makeup: Refill and new American oak, finished in sherry and Amontillado-seasoned casks
Details: Bottled 2022
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 5 times over 2 years; bottles at 50%, 40% (blind tasting), 40% (blind tasting), 30%, and 20% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Richly scented, punchy - strawberry bubblegum, lots of sweet malt and hay, vanilla cake icing and some more sweetness from honey and oranges. There's a soft peppery side which adds spice; additional fruits of candied pear, honeydew melon, and tangy stone fruit pop up. There's a waxy side as well, and we get interesting dimensions of sweetened Greek yogurt and effervescent mineral notes... excellent spirit character.
Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thick - great texture, oily, a loft of heft to the spirit. Peppery oak (white pepper) and spicy cinnamon greet us to start, but we also get juicy fruits of lemon, pears, and then strong gummy bear candy notes. Sweet vanilla, honeycomb, dried grass, and chalk notes build; we also found interesting accents of oversweet plantain and a hint of peat across our tasting sessions.
Finish: Warming, oily, and cozy... the oak spice lingers, and the malty notes from the nose return. Sweet tropical fruits like musty melon arrive, and we get butterscotch and caramel as well. Lemon combines with a creamy character; it's a long finish.
Final Note: We originally rated this whisky with a score of 7.4 out of 10, but because of some scoring adjustments we made once we hit 100 reviews, we adjusted that down to 7.2 out of 10. Now this whisky gets a healthy half-point bump in our ratings - the additional time opening up in the bottle with a lower fill level has definitely helped this whisky show more of its potential.
Compared to our original review, we found that this bottle was much less closed-up, and it was able to reveal its spirit character much more. This bottle still shows a lot of sweetness, but it felt more well-balanced at this point. The texture is also superb - really nice waxy notes and malty spirit.
When we scored this single malt originally, we said the value was around average; that was based on the original price we paid, which was $105 if memory serves correctly. Since this is a release from a past year, the only way to get it now is on the secondary market, generally at auction; recent auction results seem to put the price around $140 to $150. We would suggest shows the good reputation of this release; at that sort of price, for this score, we think value is just below average.
Our Rating: 7.7 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 5.97
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
