Spirit of the Month - November 2009 - Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Welcome to the B&B Speakeasy Spirit of the Month!

Our selection for November 2009 will be Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Talisker was founded in 1830 by Hugh and Kenneth MacAskill and has, over the ensuing 179 years, maintained it's distinctly "fiery," moderately peated flavored malt and is now enjoyed the world-over. The distillery uses 5 replicas of the original stills which were destroyed in a fire in 1960, and a condensing "worm tubes" (similar to those often found in hommemade stills) rather than a modern condenser, which some believes permits more robust flavor retention. Talisker was the favorite whisky of writers Henry Vollam Morton and Robert Louis Stevenson, the latter writing in The Scotsman's Return from Abroad, "The king o' drinks, as I conceive it, Talisker, Isla, or Glenlivet."

[imga=right]http://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/media/18772/full[/imga]Talisker is known for its somewhat spicy character and a high, but not-quite-Islay-high level of peatiness. Located on the Isle of Skye, Talisker famously contains a rather high level of phenols, which can sometimes scare off whisky neophytes. Fans of Johnnie Walker Green Label will recognize the taste however, as Talisker is one of the most noticable malts in the vatted blend. Talisker is distributed by Diaego brands under their "Classic Malts" range, with the most ubiquitous expression being the 10 year-aged, which can be usually be had for ~$55. The 18-year, if you can find it, is another of the best values on the scotch shelf, coming in at $75-80. This expression won "Best Single Malt In The World" in 2007 at the World Whiskies Awards. This expression is intensely flavorful with less phenolic character than the 10, and highly recommended. In addition, since 2000, several special-edition bottlings have been made available through the "friends of the classic malts" program and other limited distributions.


The weather's getting cold again, and that means it's a great season for single malts! Picking something that's widely available around the world should get the SotM club discussion rocking again -- this should be a real crowd-pleaser. Use the thread to discuss your thoughts on whatever Talisker expression you're sipping or have sipped, food/cigar pairings, and general single malt talk in November!


Cheers!!



(and as usual, you can recap all of our Spirit of the Month discussions indexed in the B&B Wiki here!)

I like the 10 year old and am working my way through a 1L bottle. One of the first single malts I ever tried as part of a "Classic Malts" sampler. Talisker is famous for its peppery finish.

My tasting notes:

Color: full gold
Nose: winey, very delicate peat
Flavor: from a fruity, winey start, builds into a big and powerful smoky finale. Notions of English Latakia-blend pipe tobacco.
Finish: Spicy, peppery, powerful, long

one of my favorites

Talisker is noted for going well with raw oysters, kippers, and smoked fish.

It's one of my new favorites.

I hated this stuff. My dad has a bottle and I have drank some straight up on several occasions. Pales in comparison to Macallan's 12 year (which I believe is cheaper).

I have a brand new 1L bottle of the 10 yr just waiting for the right evening! Of course I also have others in the meantime!

Just finishing my bottle - but I still have enough left for one glass in November.

Off to Pitlochry this month for a family wedding so have planned visits to Blair Athol and Edradour. I'm usually an Islay drinker but it would be rude not to have a 'look see'.

Anyway - back to Talisker. Great on a cold, wet sunday evening.

One of my best friends swears by this stuff. Had it way back when but can't remember much about it...now seems like the right time to head out and pick up a new bottle!

VR6ofpain said:

I hated this stuff. My dad has a bottle and I have drank some straight up on several occasions. Pales in comparison to Macallan's 12 year (which I believe is cheaper).

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Apples and oranges, that's like saying you like vodka but hate gin.


Talisker is a wonderful Scotch with many unique flavors that don't exist in any other single malt. This one is definitely worth a taste. Especially with the weather getting cooler, Talisker is even better. The pepperly peaty taste is a great winter warmer!


Well done, as always, Pat!

I just finished my glenfiddich. I guess I'll head out and get pick up a bottle.

If you're in the UK this superb drink is on offer at the moment in ASDA for under £23.

The bottle shown in the first post was rated as one of the best that money could buy. After reading about it, I started searching around the Dallas area for a bottle. There were three left in this area. I bought two of them. Wonder if the other one is still around? It was pretty darned good.

I love a glass of Talisker as a prelude to a steak dinner. The smoke is luscious.

It is not one of my staples but I will pick up a bottle once in a while for a change of pace. Definitely a fine whiskey, but perhaps not one to be shared when novices come by the house.

TimmyBoston said:

Apples and oranges, that's like saying you like vodka but hate gin.

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I don't see the comparison. Macallan and Talisker are both single malt scotch.

I took a tour of the distillery when I was on the Isle of Skye this last June.
It's a malt with manly character certainly.
But there are big differences between the bottlings.
The "angel's share" seems to have an unusually pronounced effect on Talisker.
I opted not buy at the time, as I had a bottle of Caol Ila in tow and it's easy enough to find.
Doesn't Diageo own Talisker now?

Good write up. Excellent tastiing notes. Probably my favorite Scotch all around and I do not think I have had any expression other than the standard 10 year old.

I like the big Islays, too, but most of the time they seem a little too much to me. I would say that Talisker has much if not quite all of the peatiness of the big Islays. What is really has much less of are the medicinal/iodine type flavors of those Islays.

<Macallan and Talisker are both single malt scotch>

True. But Macallan a classic Speyside to Talisker's island Scotch is going for somethiing different than Talisker it. Therefore the vodka to gin analogy. Macallan is ultra smooth and a bit smokey to Talisker's peppery bite. Do not get me wrong. Both are good. I have tasted Macallan and Talisker side by side and surprised myself in thinking that Macallan was really better when tasted that way. But the fact of the matter is I keep coming back to Talisker when I want a Scotch.

cstrother said:

<Macallan and Talisker are both single malt scotch>

True. But Macallan a classic Speyside to Talisker's island Scotch is going for somethiing different than Talisker it. Therefore the vodka to gin analogy. Macallan is ultra smooth and a bit smokey to Talisker's peppery bite. Do not get me wrong. Both are good. I have tasted Macallan and Talisker side by side and surprised myself in thinking that Macallan was really better when tasted that way. But the fact of the matter is I keep coming back to Talisker when I want a Scotch.

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I think you make a better point, but I still don't see the analogy to vodka and gin. Considering vodka doesn't have juniper, I would say a better analogy would be someone who says they don't like Tennessee Whiskey, but they like Bourbon. I fit into that situation myself.

Anyway, cheers gentlemen!

VR6ofpain said:

I think you make a better point, but I still don't see the analogy to vodka and gin. Considering vodka doesn't have juniper, I would say a better analogy would be someone who says they don't like Tennessee Whiskey, but they like Bourbon. I fit into that situation myself.

Anyway, cheers gentlemen!

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Hey, no contradicting the Mods, Gabe! You have to be a suck-up, like me!

Just kidding, of course. I did not even realize TimmyBoston was a Mod when I was responding to your follow-up post to his post responding to you, and that fact that he is would make no difference to what I said. (Particularly as TimmyBoston seems to feel the same way I do about Talisker!) I am sure no one means any dis to any one in any of the posts and I do not hear anyone taking offense.

But your point on Tennessee whiskey versus bourbon being the closer analogy is a fair one, and I think I generally feel the same way as you do on that comparison. (Although for inexpensive spirits I find Evan Williams black to be amazing. As I recall, that one is a Tennessee whiskey.) Bourbon is a fairly recent affection for mine as far as these things go. And up until recently I would have lumped bourbon and Tennessee whiskey togther and probably would have said something lame like I understand why people really like these whiskies. They are complex, well-structured, and amazingly full-flavored, but they just do not draw me in the way Scotch does. Some BS thing like that.

But now I can honestly say that Makers Mark transports me and something like Woodford Reserve is transcendent. But something like Jack Daniels really doesn't. I guess it seems kind of harsh and unbalanced, with lots of good aromas and flavors but a bunch of aromas and flavors that do not seem so appealing.

The Talisker/Macallan comparison is coming from the other direction to me. I like Talisker better because it seems like refined. Because it is more harsh. Because it pushes. But I have to say it was an odd experience for me tasting them side by side. The Macallan showed really well and it would have been damn hard for me to say that as to any flavor component taken on its own the Talisker was better than the Macallan. The impression in retrospect was actually that the Macallan was making the Talisker taste worse. And a bit, but not neearly as strongly, that the Talisker was making the Macallan taste better. Although I have had the experience in tasting wines blind that order can make a big difference sometimes. That one wine coming before another came make the later wine taste either better or worse, and that if one goes back and tastes in a different order one can have different impressions of the wines.

I do think that Macallan is more accessible to the less experienced Scotch drinker. Most folks seem to like Macallan well enough, even if they do not love it. Whereas while Talisker is not quite the bomb that those big Islays are, I do not think it is as easily appreciated as Macallan at all.

I picked up a bottle this weekend and had a glass with an Oliva Cain cigar. The two went well together.

I can see how the Talisker influences the Johnie Walker Green. I prefer the Talisker to the Green. If the price is equal, I would choose the Talisker every time. But for $60, neither strikes me as a bargain. In California, I can find the Green Label on sale for $39 a couple of times a year.

Nice selection and write up. I am sure that I will continue to enjoy this Scotch, but can't see myself purchasing another bottle at $59. If it was $39, i could see myself buying it more often. but for $59, it has got to wow my a bit more.

Extremely fond of Macallan and Talisker but they're from different parts of the spectrum

Macallan,Aberlour,Glenfarclas

As opposed to

Talisker, Highland Park, Scapa

Popped into Tesco tonight because I'd got 15 quid's worth of loyalty vouchers

Talisker 10 was reduced from 28 quid to 23 quid

Knock off 15 quid with the vouchers

EIGHT QUID

Special edition where one pound is contributed to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution charity

Lifeboats that are crewed by members of the local community who give their time to save others