Nose: Immediate and confident; rapidly gaining intensity. Warming and sweet: oily, waxy and nutty, balanced by delicate ripe orchard fruits. Then, lighter notes of an almondy fruit cake sit atop a denser layer of Christmas pudding. Behind, malty cereal notes are offset by aromatic orange. Much later: traces of brine and smoke, a little menthol and pine resin. Finish: Long. Quite syrupy at first, then drying, with elegant coating tannins rich in dark chocolate character. Later, pine-fresh. At once cleansing yet chewy, with just a trace of late, slightly cedary, smoke. Taste: in brief… A well-paced, beautifully textured and sweetly generous Oban, whose warming richness is neatly balanced by a smoky spicy-dryness; perfect with a chocolate truffle or two. in a sentence… An immediate and assertive, complex and evocative nose, well balanced and well-structured throughout with layers of classic Oban fruit and malt, introduces an equally well balanced palate that starts richly coating then grows dryer and more cleansing, before a long and oaky finish. Palate: Dense and coating, spicy too; sweet, yet menthol- fresh. Filling and warming, with the comforting chewiness of rich fruit-bread and hints of orange zest and clove, before growing drier, still minty, with crisp green apple. Less dense and fruitier with just a little water, which allows the classic Oban fruit, malt and maritime hints free reign until the balancing, drying spice returns.