Line Up #25 : Another slice of Talisker

5 January 2024. 

The Line Up Concept : 

The last time I went to discover this distillery with a Line Up was three years ago. Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. Several limited editions have been released, and I wonder if that doesn't give the distillery a slightly different face. How has it evolved over the last three years? Is it still as costal as ever? Are the gentlemen at Diageo treating it well? Is the quality still there? The marketing department has been on a tear over the last three years, and this represents a substantial budget, sometimes to the detriment of the quality of the bottles. Let's see if that's the case here.

The Tasting : 

Talisker Dark Storm : This bottling was launched more than ten years ago in the Travel Retail Edition, but is now available just about everywhere. The casks have been particularly charred.
The nose is salty and smoky, not very expressive in truth. Tides, seaweed, kelp, foam. On the palate, it's also very maritime, like seawater, but good. With a touch of sweetness and vanilla. The finish is long and quite pleasant, woody and oily. Score : 84

Talisker 10 yo : Now 44 years old, this edition is an absolute classic in the world of whisky. Of course, the quality has evolved over the years.
The nose is much better. Same profile, but more expressive and sweeter. The tide, salt and seaweed are still there, but this time it's welcoming and pleasant. The palate is also softer, with vanilla, but it's still very fishy. The finish is peppery, but a little short. Score : 85

 

 

 

 

 

Talisker Wilder Seas : Last year, the distillery teamed up with the NGO Parley to bring out this limited edition, the profits from which will be used to clean up the oceans. A fine project, and an effective marketing plan.
The nose is more candied, fruitier, with plums and quinces, but still very costal. The palate is still a little light, but apricot-flavoured, with spices. Warm bread just out of the oven. The finish is long, sweet and powerful, with sugar cane, candied fruit and rhubarb. Score : 86

 

 

 

 

Talisker 2011 The Distillers Edition : In 2022, the Distillers Edition lost their vintage and became ageless. A grave heresy. I rushed out to buy what will be the last vintage edition of Talisker's Distillers Edition. Is it better than the previous one I had?
The nose is deep and unified, full of coffee and chocolate, with barely a hint of the distillery's hallmarks. Syrupy palate, marked by apricot and dried banana, very spicy after a while. The finish is long, powerful and earthy, with coffee, red fruit and caramel.. Score : 87

 

 

 

 

Talisker 18 yo : In recent years, the price of this bottle has more than doubled. Even so, it's very hard to find. That's a real shame, because this is a very fine expression.
The nose is delicious, combining creamy vanilla, lemon tart and very fine salty fragrances, all in perfect balance. Ginger, cardamom, light, bewitching smoke. Fresh iodine. Still maritime on the palate, but with some exotic fruits. Long, beautiful finish, with just the right amount of power. Genoise and spices, almond paste. Score : 88

 

 

 

 

Talisker 11 yo Special Release 2022 : The penultimate Diageo Special Release, it is presented as particularly sweet, made from barley with a low peat content. But it's still Talisker. The subtitle is The Curious Creature of the Depth.
Here again, we sense the tide, but softened, as if sanded, with honey and vanilla. Saline hints, seaweed and kelp, but nothing aggressive. The palate is dominated by honey, with just a hint of maritime flavours, fine spices and a powerful, long, lemony finish. Genoise. Score : 88 

 

 

 

 

Talisker 15 yo Special Release 2019 : This is a very famous edition, as it is the oldest Diageo Special Release in years. It is also the best.
This time, the nose is perfect. Ice pellets, vanilla, iodine, everything blends together in perfect balance. Icing sugar, light smoke, lemon zest. Tide, lychee, salt streaks. On the palate, honeyed wonder, syrupy rosewater, vanilla and lemon, young apples. Mastered spices. Very long, explosive finish that makes you see stars. Egg yolk spread on warm croissants. Sugar beads. Score : 90

 

 

 

 

Talisker 1982 Special Release 2003 : A bottling from over 20 years ago, when Diageo Special Releases were great things.
It's soft, ethereal, aerial. Strong iodine, salty tide, but also melted butter, lychee. Pastry egg yolk. Breadcrumbs, brioche. Sweet vanilla. Lemon fillet. Tarte Tatin. Warm apples. Silky mouthfeel, icing sugar, macaroons, but also powerful spices. Warm bread. Sublime finish, very long, vaporous smoke, bubbles of lemon juice, almond paste, white chocolate. Score : 91 

Talisker 57° North : This one was discontinued around 2018, to make more room for Diageo Special Releases. It has never had a very good reputation.
The nose is rather austere, not very expressive, fairly strong smoke, maritime hints in the background. Fresh iodine. A few white fruits. A bit light on the palate, but good, almonds and brioche, then rather strong spices. Violent finish, but short, charcoal, pencil lead. Score : 86 

Talisker 8 yo Special Release 2021 : This one has the particularity of having been matured in heavily peated casks. It is subtitled The Rogue Seafory.
Quite present, and pleasant peat. Vanilla hints. Gradually the tide rises and becomes more present. On the palate, seawater, tons of kelp and seaweed, then spices. The finish is bitter, long, charred, salty and peppery. Chestnut purée and foam. Score : 89

 

 

 

 

What I gain from it : 

• In three years, the distillery's line hasn't changed much, and it's as good as ever. The distillate is more and more assertive, costal, salty, marked by the tide, kelp and seaweed. This is definitely a very maritime whisky, which was less obvious just a few years ago, when the casks were allowed to diminish the qualities of the distillate.
  

 

 

• So the break came not three years ago, but about a decade ago. At that point, the distillery really started to run out of quality casks, and the Diageo Special Releases became much less interesting. In 2013, a magnificent 27-year-old was released, which I've already mentioned here. Then, nothing at all until 2018, when an 8-year-old came out, which I'm talking about there.It goes from something purely marvellous to a very good whisky, but nothing more. And since then, we haven't had anything better than a 15 year old.

 

 

• A further step was taken in 2022, when the Distillers Edition lost its vintage. Now it's a non-age that I barely dare to taste. In the meantime, the 18-year-old has become unaffordable, and now the limited editions on offer are ageless, and of very relative quality, like the Wilder Seas. It's certainly not bad, but there's absolutely nothing exceptional about it.     
   

 

 

 

Conclusion : 

It's all a bit disappointing, Talisker is still an excellent distillery, but it's not at its best. Perhaps in the next 5 years or so, when we can take advantage of the casks that were filled around 2015, we'll see some high-quality bottlings again. But in the meantime, we'll have to make do with the Special Releases, the only affordable expressions that are still very good. Too few casks were filled before 2015, and most of them were quickly sold out in the face of soaring demand.

Other distilleries have the same problem, but with these you can rely on independent bottlings, which are sometimes expensive, but which offer some magnificent opportunities. With Talisker, it's nothing like that, the independent bottlings are very rare, rather young, and at a price that doesn't correspond at all to the quality of the juice. 

 

 

 

Be that as it may, the picture is not all bleak. Even if we no longer have masterpieces, we still have nice things with Special Releases, so there's enough to keep an honest man happy, and for those who can't wait, there's always the possibility of squandering your savings on a pre-2014 expression, which will cost you the earth, but which you'll remember for the rest of your life.