Origin: Isle of Skye (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 58.7%ABV
Ageing casks: Stone-spun and lightly re-toasted
Chillfiltered: No
Added coloring: No
Owner: Diageo
Average price: € 100.00
Official website: taliskerwhisky.com
Another regular feature of Diageo’s Special Releases, an ever-so-youthful Talisker whose peculiarity is these casks of unknown origin (ex-Bourbon, probably) with a somewhat bizarre and somewhat mysterious workmanship: the charred layer inside the casks was shaved off by rolling stones with water, only to be lightly re-toasted (hence, I imagine, the bottling’s name). How this might distinctly affect the aged liquid is all to be understood, and I just happen to have some in my glass.
Tasting Notes
The nose has a very pronounced marine sweetness with spicy touches: cream tart, peach in syrup, pears and apples baked with cinnamon, marzipan, a drop of brine and toasted pine needles. The peat is gentle, suspended between vegetable and coastal, framing a pastry heart on the harbour. There is a touch of black pepper on the crescendo, with a mineral vein along the length (at times pushing towards wet stone… but this could be suggestion) and the alcohol tending to emerge with quite a confidence. Not great character but pleasant.
The entrance is crisp and peppery, with a certain alcoholic exuberance accompanied by spices and aromatic herbs, and then it opens up to fruit, citrus fruits in primis (orange, grapefruit, lime) with apples and peach, followed by the confectionery compartment (honey, custard, shortcrust pastry) that is less decisive than on the nose. The whole is enveloped in a marking smoke of burnt wood soaked in sea water, with the saline part more distinct, especially at the end of the sip.
Medium-length finish of black pepper, brine, burnt wood, mineral and slightly minty notes.
One of the many special releases that seems to have nothing special about it: yet another young Talisker, pleasant but forgettable, rolling away in the memory like wet stones in a cask.
Vote: 84/100