Oban 14 yo (43%, OB, 75cl, +/-1988)

So a very early European Classic Malt, still filled into a 75cl bottle and bearing the 'Little Bay of Caves' nickname.

Colour: Light gold. 

Nose: Sooty profile, full of black olives juice and roasted pine nuts. Some meaty fatness (mutton suet?) and then an unexpectedly gentler combination of butterscotch and café latte. Wee touches of  beeswax and thyme essence somewhere in the background. 

Mouth: Very sooty and a tad mustardy at first, getting then relatively rounder, with burnt cakes and roasted chestnuts. Quite some saltiness coating all that, reminiscent of black olives once again. Certainly one of the sootiest malts and, in a way, a true West-coaster beside Springbank and, say Ben Nevis. 

Finish: Long, dry, very salty and with clear notes of pine smoke. Comments: probably more complex than newer offerings, although I would believe that recent batches have improved again after some more difficult 2000s. Extremely good and truly idiosyncratic.