The town of Oban is also known as the 'Gateway to the Isles'. Two brothers, the Stevensons, settled here in 1778 and greatly enriched the hamlet, as it was then, with their business activities ranging from slate quarrying to shipbuilding. In 1794 Hugh Stevenson built the Oban Distillery, hiring an experienced Lowland distiller to manage the whole operation. The distillery remained in the hands of the family until 1866 and was eventually acquired by one Walter Higgin (1883). By this time Oban was a busy port with wool, whisky, slate, and kelp being shipped to Liverpool and Glasgow by steamship. The railway also brought in a new wave of prosperity to the area: tourism with the first scheduled passenger trains arriving from Glasgow in 1880. Oban, the gateway to the Isles, is a sheltered West Highland harbor town steeped in Gaelic history. A sip of Oban evokes a cliff-side coastal village where a hint of sea mingles with the slightly smoky flavor of peat. COLORdeep goldNOSEfragrant, sweet, with a whiff of smokeBODYsmooth, medium, richPALATEround, warming, malty, with delicate peaty undertonesFINISHlong, fruity and smooth, with an afterglow like a Western Highland twilight 43% ABV - 86 Proof
