Review #: 290
Description: Talisker 10 Year
Spirit: Scotch
Background: The standard bottling from what is no longer the only distillery on the isle of Skye. Under Diageo’s umbrella, this single malt, I believe, is mostly aged in bourbon hogsheads with a little bit of sherry in there. Aged 10 years and bottled at a decent 45.8%, it is lightly peated and plays off being bottled by the sea, so let’s see how it tastes.
Distillery – Talisker
Bottler – Talisker
Brand – Talisker
Selection – N/A
ABV – 45.8%
Age – 10 Years
Nose – Nice smoked chocolate, caramel, slight candied lemon peel, cooked pear, a slight hint of oak and malt
Taste – Pretty sweet with caramel, vanilla, chocolate, raisin bran flakes, toasted marshmallow
Finish – Peat comes in but it’s not too brash and tastes like campfire embers, little bit of black pepper, sea salt, right towards the end the peat and salt get a bit aggressive and a little bitter.
Score: 6
Would I buy a bottle? Yes
Thoughts: This is a really nice bottle. I think it’s a nice bridge between unpeated and heavily peated stuff like an Ardbeg or Ledaig. I like to use this for tasting for people who may not know a ton about Scotch or think that they don’t like peat because the first thing they had was something like Laphroaig 10 or Laga 16. It’s sweet, but the peat and salt help reign it in and the nose doesn’t hit you too hard. It’s also bottled at a respectable proof. I think if you can get it around $50, it’s solid, but some places have it for $40 and others for $80. At the high end, I’d think I’d pass though.