Oban 1980

Today’s distilleries are often located outside of towns, in Oban’s case, it was an early entry in the coastal town, which grew up around it. Dating back to 1794, the distillery is one of the oldest in Scotland. It faces the harbour and back into a hillside. Other distilleries have come and gone, land being sold to developers, but Oban, thankfully, remains. A multitude of owners departed before DCL arrived on the scene, which was a forerunner of Diageo. The site received much-needed investment in 1968 and this took 4 years to complete, before supporting blends. The classic 14 year old single malt debuted in 1988 and in recent times a variety of special editions and distillery exclusives have appeared. Any whisky from Oban is scarce and production at the site is one of Diageo’s smallest with only 6 mashes per week.