Origin: Isle of Skye (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 52.1%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and Wine seasoned casks
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Diageo
Average price: € 130.00
Official website: taliskerwhisky.com
Vote: 84/100
Second bottle of this year’s SR, and we go to a distillery that generally doesn’t disappoint expectations.
Slightly peated distillate (taken from the last stocks), matured in first and second-fill ex-Bourbon casks combined with others seasoned in wine (of unspecified kind): the use of seasoned casks is a bit of a common thread in this series.
The huge jellyfish on the label represents the legend of a luminous creature that, when the tides in Talisker Bay became particularly brutal, was drawn from the blackest depths, flooding the darkness of the ocean depths with its magnificent glow. This powerful luminescence was carried by storm currents to the Talisker distillery, illuminating its new make.
Who knows if it might also illuminate the senses?
Tasting notes
The peat on the nose is as delicate as you would expect, with a very caressing coastal and toasted profile, from which a drift of smoke from a lit fireplace and grilled scallops emerges. Crème caramel, apple strudel, praline peanuts, cinnamon-dried oranges, spices… a stroll among the stalls of an autumn village fair, close to the sea, with a cheerful (and bright?) light-heartedness.
On the palate, heralded by the usual sprinkling of pepper, come livelier, crisper flavours, the citrus fruits grow in body together with the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg) while the coastal and peated parts seem to finish in the background. Grilled fruit (pineapple, plums, apples), liquorice, aniseed and Catalan cream take centre stage, just enough time to concede it once again to the marine and grilled essences, with a thicker, more decisive smoke that veers more sharply towards burnt wood.
The finish is not very long, of ash, iodine, cooked apple and salted caramel.
A decidedly different Talisker, which is by no means a bad thing, which to a truly engaging nose doesn’t offer an equally effective and punchy drinking experience, tending on the contrary towards fugacity especially on the finish. The experience is nevertheless worth the trip, but perhaps not a whole bottle.