Oban 12 Year Old - 1980s

Oban is a distillery whose profile has increased enormously since its inclusion as one of the representatives in Diageo’s Classic Malt series in 1987, but the west highland distillery’s small size means that official bottlings are thin on the ground. Most of Oban's spirit is destined for the Classic Malts 14-year-old and Distillers Edition bottlings, so other official bottlings are scarce but the 2002 Special Release Oban 1969 is a classic that's well worth hunting down.

Oban’s single malt, perhaps surprisingly for such a small distillery, had already been officially bottled prior to the creation of the Classic Malts, with a 12-year-old available from the 1970s onwards in distinctive decanter-style bottles. Recent official outings include a handful of limited edition NAS bottlings and the 2021 Special Release Oban 12-year-old, a nod to the distillery’s history. Independent bottlings of Oban are extremely rare, but well worth grabbing if you can find them.

Distillery bottlings are, as the name suggests, bottled by or for the distillery from which the whisky has originated and are thus often referred to as Official Bottlings or OBs. Distillery bottlings are generally more desirable for collectors and usually fetch higher prices at auction than independent bottlings. They are officially-endorsed versions of the whisky from a particular distillery and are therefore considered the truest expression of the distillery’s character.

This ideal of the distillery character is regarded so seriously by the distilleries and brand owners that casks of whisky that are considered to vary too far from the archetype are frequently sold on to whisky brokers and independent bottlers. When this happens, it is often with the proviso that the distillery’s name is not allowed to be used when the cask is bottled for fear of diminishing or damaging the distillery’s character and status.