May 15, 2015

Talisker from no oak to a lot

Today we’ll try to do something unusual, that is to say taste more or less the same spirit with various degrees of sweet American oak, from virtually none to heavily recharred/rejuvenated US oak. Not sure this will work, though… As they say, don’t try this at home!

Talisker 6 yo 2008/2014 (46%, Hepburn's Choice, 363 bottles)

I agree we could have chosen the official 10 instead as #1, but this ultra-young and mega-pale Talisker (from blending stock, I suppose) should be the closest you can get to ‘the spirit’. Colour: white wine. Say sauvignon-white. Nose: ah yes, we’ve tried several very young Taliskers by DL and affiliated houses, as well as Milroy’s if I remember well. A similarly perfect mixture, with wet dogs (we’re sorry, dogs), soaked grains, farmyard, burning seaweed, brine, caraway, and damp hessian. Milder than an Islay, with more spicy herbs and less smoke. And more green pepper (almost forgot to mention that). Kind of irrefutable. Mouth: brine, sea water, black and white peppers, samphires, lemon juice… and that’s all. I guess 6 years wasn’t enough to make it more complex, but it’s very well-chiselled young spirit. Finish: long, rather on grapefruit and very smoky brine. Comments: excellent, not unlike white mezcal or Haitian clairin. Someone should try to blend mezcal, clairin and Talisker one day. Hey, why me? SGP:358 - 86 points.

Talisker 10 yo (45.8%, OB, +/-2014)

Colour: gold. Nose: better rounded, and rather more herbal than I remembered. Caraway, cumin… Then more damp chalk and clay, antiseptic, braking fluid, creosote, notes of overripe oranges, bandages, oysters ‘from yesterday’… There is some wildness, and yet it’s clean and precise spirit. Love it. Always loved it. Mouth: amazing. Everything’s perfect. Lemon, wet clothes, raw wool, grains, porridge (not my favourite food, though), pepper, some kind of green curry, seaweed (the stuff our Japanese friends serve as salad, the name escapes me)… Frankly, this is great whisky. Finish: long, salty, clean, and yet complex, and yet finely delimited (what?) Comments: bang for your buck! Having said that, I’m feeling that Talisker’s becoming more medicinal these days. And maybe peatier again. Nice cure, nice cure. SGP:367 - 91 points.

Talisker 'Skye' (45.8%, OB, 2015)

Ahem. I don’t know what to say. You know, you’re feeling like an old 911 lover who came across a 924, a few years back. Ahem… Colour: gold. Nose: oh. More caraway and ginger from the oak, less wet dogs and peat and smoke and seawater and everything. This baby gets nowhere fast after the 10. I don’t know, I really don’t know, I really really don’t know… what to think. Let’s call it a ‘blendish’ Talisker, or a 924 indeed. Mouth: er… Spicy oak, cumin, ginger, other oak spices… I mean, er… I don’t think Talisker lovers will need this. Finish: quite long, oaky/spicy. Comments: dispensable. More spicy oak, less ‘spirit’ (in all meanings of that word), that’s exactly what we do not like much at WF Towers. Yes you may call me an elitist or a snob or a purist or whatever you like. I’ve seen that a part of the blogosphere quite loved it. Well, I’m probably not part of that crew… Now, maybe we should have tried this little Skye before the stunning 10. This is almost squandering heritage, friends. SGP:375 - 76 points.

Talisker 'Storm' (45.8%, OB, +/-2014)

Colour: gold. Nose: more like it. Fresher, cleaner, more maritime, I find this closer to the 10 than to the ‘Skye’. Sure there are pencil shavings, but at least there aren’t any excessive oak spices. I also enjoy these mangos, papayas, vanilla-ed fruit deserts… Mouth: yeah, it’s a rounder ten, with more body, less complexity, more easiness… In a way, it’s a more commercial ten, whatever that means. An easier drop, a bit thicker, a little less complex, but yeah, I find it very very good. And it should go well on ice cream! Finish: long, Taliskery, briny… The vanilla never gets in the way, no mean feat. Comments: I prefer the 10, but I find this rather excellent. Kills the ‘Skye’ like Mayweather killed Pacquiao. SGP:367 - 87 points.

Talisker 'Dark Storm' (45.8%, OB, +/-2014)

Because, you see, we must. Colour: deep gold (agreed, that’s scary). Nose: to tell you the truth, I do not find many differences between the Storm and the Dark Storm. The colour is darker, but the whisky’s similar. Maybe a little more pencil shavings? Bread crust? Tea? Oranges, perhaps? Mouth: same feelings. A little more body, thickness, spicy oak, also more spices, ginger, caraway… Cumin, pepper, aquavit… I think the Storm was better chiselled, but this is good, no doubt. Finish: long, but oaky spices are in the front. Comments: one of the hardest sessions I ever did. It only strengthened my feelings, that is to say that oak is whisky’s best friend, and its worst enemy. SGP:367 - 84 points.

Conclusion: I’m about to start a Talisker 10 Appreciation Society! And I think it would be nice that the very distinguished owners would rather launch a 'natural' youngster with an age statement. Even 5 or 6 would do, see the Hepburn!

Check the index of all Talisker I've tasted so far