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Please
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In my last 2 years
of organising MMA
(The Malt Maniacs' Awards) they wouldn't have happened without
the undaunting help of a couple of people, namely fellow Maniac
Oliver Klimek and good friend Klaus Doblmann. As a thank you to
Klaus I sent him on his way with a healthy supply of what I like
to call left-overs which were literally what was left in the
bottles after the Maniac judges' sample bottles had been filled.
Noticing I had a good selection of Talisker drams we agreed at
some point in the future to do some kind of vertical / parallel
/ joint tasting for our websites (OK, so Malt Klaus is a blog
but you know what I mean). Well some 2 years down the line I
finally got my act together, replied to Klaus' many requests for
me to do so and dug the samples out from my sample shelf.
We each have 6
Talisker samples; 10y, 18y, Skye, Storm, Dark Storm, & Port
Ruighe. |
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Talisker Skye
No Age Statement
45.8% ABV |
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Keith As always I'm using my Classic Malt glass for all of
these Talisker reviews. Golden yellow in colour and with initial
notes of gentle peat on the nose this really hints at what's to
come. With time the nose develops a fruitiness akin to green
apple with mild undertones of banana skin. It also hints at
maritime qualities with suggestions of Atlantic-ness. Well, the
label does say "made by the sea". The palate surprises me a
little with a big, mouth-filling waxiness, suggestions of creamy
toffee and a mild sweetness and continuing into a long, lightly
smoky finish. Overall this is what I would call a good every-day
dram that you can enjoy relaxing by an open fire of an
evening. 85 Points from me.
Klaus
Faint
red-gold-colour in the glass. It literally noses like a somewhat
rougher, younger version of the 10yo which I'm tasting it
against in parallel. The peat smoke is less obvious but there's
more alcohol - which tastes more new-make-ish. Lurking behind
the peat and alcohol one can find citrus and a hint of vanilla,
but they are quite subdued. On the palate the arrival takes a
second to get going but then it's there in full force -
signature pepper and chili bite. There is a bit more underlying
sweetness than in the 10 - let's call it maltiness - while the
peatiness is reduced, but accompanied with a toasty cask note
and vanilla. The finish is quite big on the pepper and chili,
again, with mild-ish peat smoke trailing behind - this time
accompanied by toasted notes and lasting vanilla-oak-sweetness.
In all, a younger, "rougher" and less pronounced sibling to the
Talisker 10 on the nose, which it has replaced in most
supermarket-type outlets around the world, but with a bit more
balance on palate and finish. I guess that's a tie then. Score:
83
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Talisker Storm
No Age Statement
45.8% ABV |
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Klaus
Light
gold liquid in the glass. There's quite a lot of alcohol on the
nose with a whiff of peat smoke, vanilla, pepper, wet pebbles
and smoked salt. It goes "boom" on the palate - chili kick and
fresh pepper burn with alcohol, a whiff of peat smoke, a pinch
of salt and a slight malty vanilla sweetness. Rather dry. The
finish is quite dry upon swallowing with a pepper and chili
kick. Slight peat smoke kicks in afterwards and lingers for a
while, paired with a dry malt note. Positioning-wise this is in
the same league as Skye but less expressive and more singular on
the alcohol/pepper/chili burn signature notes. Not my preferred
expression, but far from bad, it works well if you need warmth
in the midst of a raging storm! Score: 81
Keith Another golden glowing dram in my Classic Malt glass,
this time like a shiny new 9ct gold ring. The nose once again
surprises me with an initial blast of custard-iness, but not for
long as it soon develops into aromas of matches being struck
with a maritime undertone. In fact we're maybe talking fireworks
on an Atlantic beach, light the blue touch-paper and stand back.
As the nose further develops with time in the glass that
custard-iness returns with accompanying hints of a fruitiness
akin to stewed apple. The palate once again has a waxiness but
lightly so and not as mouth-filling as the previous Skye. It
also has a freshness which reminds me of a pine forest and again
an apple-y fruitiness but alongside some oak-iness and nutty
(Hazelnut) smokiness. The finish is medium length and syrup-y
with flavours of oak and a mild suggestion of bonfire embers.
Overall I'm again pleasantly surprised by this dram, ideal for
bonfire night or by an open log fire, somewhere cosy. 85
Points from me.
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Talisker Dark Storm
No Age Statement
45.8% ABV
Travel Retail
Exclusive |
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Keith A rather darker golden colour this time, in fact very
dark golden. Smoky bacon crisps? No, not smoky bacon itself but
that distinctive aroma of the crisp variety, followed soon after
by fruitiness, apples, pears but also a bitterness, perhaps star
fruitiness? This is nice, unusual but nice. The palate initially
offers mouth-filling oakiness but there's still a suggestion of
smoky bacon in the background. Unlike the previous 2 Taliskers
the smokiness here isn't reminiscent of peat or even bonfire
embers, it's amazingly just smoky bacon crisps. The finish holds
a fruitiness but this time more like redcurrants with a
suggestion of black pepper right at the end. My overall
impression is a very good one where I recall Taliskers from the
past having a distinctive pepperiness so I'm delighted to
experience that once again here. 86 Points from me.
Klaus
Light
amber in the glass, as the name suggests. Oh, this is dark
indeed on the nose! Much less alcohol and nose hair burn
initially than the Storm I'm pairing it with, with notes of peat
smoke, cracked black pepper (left in the open for a few hours),
soot, oak char, liquorice and roasted cocoa beans. The palate
offers a continuation of the nose. Initially rather calm before
a pepper and chili kick appears (not as ... stormy as in
"Storm"). Once these fade, well-integrated peat smoke appears,
paired with a hard to define "dark" background layer that coats
the entire mouth (on the dry side). Charred oak, liquorice, dark
malt sweetness, burnt molasses (as in a dark rum). The finish
offers a culmination of palate and nose. Dry, "big" upon
swallowing with somewhat subdued alcohol, pepper and chili (but
they are there, fear not!) followed by well-integrated peat
smoke, traces of liquorice, molasses and charred casks leaving a
burnt vanilla note, all of which lingers for a long time. Oh,
this is really lovely stuff. I couldn't care less that it's a
whisky without an age statement, it's very well made. "Dark" is
well suited to describe this whisky - a somewhat subdued, but
still present, distillery character integrates well with very
heavily charred casks without any of these elements being
overpowering. Score: 87
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Talisker Port
Ruighe
No Age Statement
45.8% ABV |
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Klaus
Dark red
gold, almost amber liquid in the glass. On the (fresh and
young-ish) nose the alcohol is back, paired with tingling
grapefruit peel and subdued bonfire smoke, red grapes, grape
peel and something slightly bitter... crushed grape seeds
perhaps? Another light Talisker nose without much depth to it.
The palate is rather light on the arrival, it takes a few
seconds for the alcohol and slight chili bite to appear.
Slightly syrupy (grape juice), with a dominating dry-ish note (sweet
grape skins) and blood orange. Hints of smoke in the background.
The finish is quite big and juicy with restrained alcohol and
almost no chili/pepper bite, sweet notes of red grape juice and
one bitter grape seed thrown in. Lasts quite long with lingering
fading sweet/dry/slightly smoky notes. Overall this is a nice
sipper, albeit a bit simple and young lacking depth. Score: 82
Keith So here we are with the last of the NAS samples; Port
Ruighe (pronounced Ree) and as the name suggests it's been
finished in Port Casks. As such it's a little darker in colour
than the others, more like shiny oak than yellow gold. The nose
offers initial maritime aromas (salty sea air) before opening up
to include candle wax with something orange-like. It suggests
bitterness, perhaps blood orange? The palate is initially
peppery (good old Talisker) and then the orange-ness comes
through alongside a suggestion of dark chocolate ...... How I'm
reminded of Terry's dark chocolate orange at Christmas-time. The
finish is very long with even more intense dark chocolate
orange. Overall I generally love these characteristics in a
whisky but for some reason this one leaves me a little short or
underwhelmed, it's good but rather restrained, 84 points from
me.
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Talisker
10 years old
45.8% ABV |
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Keith Now to the 10 year old; again slightly darker in
colour than the earlier NAS offerings, but not quite as dark as
the Ruighe, we're talking light oak in colour. The nose has
oodles of fruitiness and freshness, think along the lines of
apple and pear mixed in with salty sea air. Yes, plenty of
maritime elements, salty seaweed and a kind of fogginess
reminding me of a misty autumn morning on an Atlantic beach
where everything has just been shrouded in mist, slightly
numbing the senses. The palate is different again with distinct
barley, it's malty and there's that good old Talisker
pepperiness back again. "Made by the sea"? Aye. The finish is
very long with malty, peppery bonfire embers. Overall I'm
delighted by the palate but the nose doesn't quite live up to
it. A thoroughly enjoyable winter dram and 85 points from me.
Klaus
Faint
red-gold in the glass. The nose offers the classic Talisker 10
profile with quite a lot of (not too strong) peat influence up
front, followed by freshly cracked pepper, a "fresh" whiff of
citrus air freshener, light vanilla and maybe a trace of coconut.
Rather spirit driven and not masked by loud oak. The palate is
equally fresh on the arrival with a "loud" spirit influence.
Moderate peat smoke, citrus, cracked pepper, chili burn and
rather dry. Not much sweetness at all - just a hint of vanilla
and sugar-reduced lemon cake. The finish is big on the pepper
and chili upon swallowing, quickly followed by lasting
medium-strong peat smoke. It's been a couple of years since I
last had a Talisker 10 so this took me by surprise by how
spirit-driven it is. The signature chili catch and pepper burn
are there but there's not much more to it, especially the finish
is rather short. Could use some additional elements to balance
things out if you ask me. Has this always tasted that way?
Score: 83
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Talisker
18 years old
45.8% ABV |
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Klaus
Deep
gold in colour. On the nose it's easily detectable as the oldest
and most complex dram in this lineup (these two attributes don't
always have to align, but they do in this case). Well-integrated
alcohol with a coexistence of subtle peat smoke, orange, pepper
and lovely oakiness. Diving deeper we've got wax, grape skins
and, dare I say it, a can of mixed tropical fruits. Lovely. The
palate is subtle on the arrival with a slow buildup of slight
alcohol, just a pinch of peat, pepper and chili and a big,
mouth-coating, waxy mix of fruits served on an oak platter
enjoyed next to the salty sea. The finish has a quick burst of
pepper upon swallowing before ending in a long, big mixture of
sweet mixed fruits (yes, that cheap can of mixed tropical fruits
again) with a mixture of wax, oak and a touch of smoke lingering
for a long time. Well, this was obvious, wasn't it? The oldest
and most expensive dram just had to win... I kinda wish it
didn't because that would prove a point, but, nope, in this case
age wins hands-down without any doubt. Score: 89
Keith Dark oak, almost to the point of a toffee colour this
18 year old initially offers a nose of smoky fruitiness. My
first thought was raspberry but on a second nosing this changed
my mind to something richer, perhaps dark cherries, certainly
hints of plum and maybe raisins too. There's also a suggestion
of creamy toffee almost to the point of butterscotch-iness with
a very faint orangey-ness in the background. This creamy
toffee-ness is most definitely present on the palate and the
fruitness too, with suggestions of plum and bramble. There's
also a very creamy mouth-feel and it's very warming with that
Talisker pepperiness. All of this pepperiness, warmth and
toffee-ness continue into the medium length finish. Overall this
is a fine and sophisticated whisky. Did I save the best until
last? Aye, certainly, 87-88 points from me.
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Final thoughs from Klaus That was fun!
And Intriguing! And strange! I haven't had a Talisker in quite a
few years so for me it was getting reacquainted with this
distillery. What surprised me most was how light and
spirit-driven quite a few of the drams were, to a point where
some lacked depth for my palate - including the signature 10
which I always held in high regard. Looking at the tasting from
a NAS vs age statement perspective there is no clear conclusion.
The 10yo and the NAS Skye expression are equally good in my book
and have a clear place in the lineup. The two other NAS
expressions, Port Ruighe and Storm fall behind and I don't see
myself reaching for them in a shop. I guess the surprise of the
tasting was the (as it looks discontinued) Dark Storm expression,
which was the most expressive dram except for the clear winner,
the 18yo, which is, well, a delight.
Conclusions & Observations from Keith I agree with Klaus
that this was indeed very interesting from a couple of
perspectives; firstly there's the obvious Age vs NAS discussion
and it's no secret that I've generally been an advocate of age
statements and sometimes quite vociferous about NAS. In some
ways this little Talisker exercise has opened my eyes a little,
if not given me cause to change my mind, just a little bit,
maybe. Perhaps expectation comes into play a little as I really
didn't expect much from the NAS offerings here. I awarded 85
points to each of Skye & Storm which was a little more than
Klaus gave to each, was I being a little generous? Maybe by just
a point but then this was how I felt on the evenings when I
tried them and was pleasantly surprised by what I found. I'm in
full agreement with Klaus about the Dark Storm, a lovely dram
which more than exceeded all expectations. As for the 10y, I
enjoyed it and am glad to see some of that old Talisker
pepperiness coming back as I recall it seemed to be lost in some
of the bottlings I tried throughout the earlier 2000's, but then
again I still didn't score it higher than the Skye or Storm.
I've never been a fan of Port finishes and once again the Ruighe
fell a little short for me, but it was considerably better than
most Port finishes I've tried. Now for the final two, what can I
say? Dark Storm was a treat but the 18y .... bloody fabby. Looks
like I agree with Klaus here then.
Finally I feel I
have to comment about the distillery itself: As I mentioned
I felt that in recent years, well since the early 2000's
Talisker (in my opinion) lost some of its mojo and as such I've
tended to ignore their bottlings since then. It's been good to
revisit the offerings in this way and yes, I feel the modern day
10y is indeed getting some of its mojo back although it's still
far from what I remember in the 80's, and the NAS options are
not a bad option too, certainly for daily drams when you're
looking for something simple for an evening with your feet up by
the fire. It's been far too long since I visited Skye, something
like 30-odd years ago, the bridge was opened in 1995 so my last
visit pre-dates that year, it was one of my most enjoyable
holidays with many great memories, maybe I'm long overdue
another visit. Sláinte, Keith.
Please click on the
photo of Klaus (below left) to visit MaltKlaus.net and read his
take on this Talisker tasting. |
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My heartfelt thanks
to Klaus for all his help with the crazy task of MMA filling
during 2015 & 2016 where in one weekend we typically had to fill
around 2000 sample bottles each year.
Click here for
"Dramming with Klaus, part 2" (from end Jan.) |
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A
selection of previous Dram-atics highlights
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Limburg
2018 |
Limburg
2017 |
Limburg
2015 |
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April 2019
Limburg 2019 |
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The Malt
Maniacs Awards - MMA |
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Dec.
2010 |
December's Advent-urous drams,
Nant Distillery,
The road to Certification |
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Nov. 2010 |
Journey to end of Scotverse,
Wick,
Pulteney,
Balblair,
Knockdhu,
Homecoming,
Tweetup,
Chilling with Cooley |
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Oct.
2010 |
The John Walker,
Sampling with Master of Malts,
Changing jobs,
Whisky Round Table |
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Sept.
2010 |
Playing Chinese whispers,
Oktoberfest,
SMWS Spirit Cellar,
500,000 |
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August
2010 |
Elementary my dear Islay,
Handbags at dawn,
Dram-arkable 500,
Cheapo Challenge,
Ah Dooagh,
1 from 3 left |
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July
2010 |
Age
matters. A series of whisky reviews concentrating upon 'Age' |
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June
2010 |
Jules
Rimet, pickles & crisps.
Mon coeur, mon amour oh mon sherry.
A
taste of the great outdoors. |
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May
2010 |
The
highly-acclaimed and record-breaking "Desert Island Drams" |
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April
2010 |
My
peat's bigger than your peat,
A foursome with a famous Scottish
bird |
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March
2010 |
Sample
Mania tasting notes,
The Good, the Bad & The Loch Dh-Ugly,
A return to sanity,
The Choice of Managers |
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Jan-Feb
2010 |
Keep
taking the medicine,
It's Festival time,
Maker's Mark,
Sleeveless in Munich |
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Dec. 2009 |
All
power to bean-counters,
protecting Scotch,
seasonal drams,
Definitive Xmas Drams,
2009 Whisky Awards |
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Nov. 2009 |
How it
all started,
Bonfire night,
Autumnal musings,
EU Tax & Duty,
What's in a (whisky) name? |
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© Copyright
2009-2019 by Keith Wood - All rights reserved - Whisky-Emporium |
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