In 2019 Diageo launched a series of eight whiskies tied to the final season of HBO's Game of Thrones, pairing each of its distilleries with one of the great houses or institutions of the show. Oban — small, coastal, set against the Atlantic — was matched with the Night's Watch, the order tasked with guarding the Wall in the frozen north.
The bottling is a no-age-statement single malt at 43%, distinct from the standard Oban 14, and was sold as a limited release through travel retail and specialist merchants. Marketing aside, it is a recognisably Oban malt: lighter and younger than the house bottling, but recognisably from the same stills.
The nose is fresh and saline, with orange peel and honey behind it and the soft, faintly smoky note that runs through most West Highland Oban. The palate carries malted barley, citrus and brine, with a touch of dried fruit emerging in the middle. The finish is medium-length, lightly smoked and salted, fading without much complication.
It is, in honest terms, a marketing-led release rather than a serious step forward in the distillery's range, and the Night's Watch livery has done much of the work in moving bottles. As a casual introduction to Oban's coastal style it serves perfectly well, but drinkers seeking the full character of the distillery are better served by the 14 year old or the older Special Releases. The Game of Thrones series did at least introduce a number of new drinkers to distilleries they might never otherwise have tried, and on that count alone the project earned its place.
