Isle of Skye

Whisky #488: Talisker Dark Storm Single Malt

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Talisker Dark Storm Single Malt. Isle of Skye, Scotland. ABV: 45.8%. Tasted on the dock at the Southport Yacht Club.

Having just completed the Sydney to Gold Coast Yacht Race, one of my crew mates Ola brought a bottle of smuggled contraband up on deck as we crossed the finish line at dawn. A perfect time for a celebratory whisky!

Colour: Like a morning sunrise. Fuck it, I don’t care if that sounds like a cliche – it’s dawn, we’ve just finished a 3 day yacht race, and the whisky we’ve just cracked as we arrive at the dock is as welcome a sight as the morning light!

Nose: Charcoal and blueberries. My skipper Lindsay got slight buttery notes and freshly cut lawn. Not the first time he’s cut another man’s grass…

Palate: Smokey brown sugar flavours. Quite a bit of heat as it slides around your mouth and down your chest. Almost a medicinal, menthol tingle on the front of the tongue. Lindsay got sunflower seeds.

Finish: Salt and pepper heat, medium length. Some warm honey notes to fade.

Comments: Lots of spice and rich dark sugary flavours, a fair bit of heat too. A real warming whisky when you’ve been chilled to the bone sailing offshore for the past 3 days. Sailors typically drink a lot of rum, but I’m gradually  to convincing my crew to embrace a Whisky a Day!

Whisky #431: Talisker Storm Single Malt

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img_7978.jpgTalisker Storm Single Malt. Isle of Skye, Scotland. ABV: 45.8%. Tasted at home, $85.

Day 5 of Peat Week at Whisky a Day sees us return to more familiar climes, this time docking our tastebuds on the shores of the Isle of Skye on the Scottish west coast to check out the Talisker Storm.

Colour: Luscious Amber.

Nose: Sea salt and hessian sacks. Some soft woody notes and a touch of caramel fudge.

Palate: Butterscotch and smokey creaminess in flavour, but it’s not a creamy or oily mouthfeel. It’s a smooth entry, but quite thin on the palate.

Finish: Quite a drying finish, some lovely creamed honey flavours and a soft smokey fade.

Comments: A No Age Statement (NAS) release, this is really quite enjoyable. At 45.8% ABV it’s nicely balanced, the flavour intensity is there and yet it’s quite easy to drink. Not my favourite Talisker expression, but eminently drinkable and a great stepping stone into more heavily peated whiskies – be that in the one sitting, or if you’re just starting to explore the peated genre.

Talisker distillery on the stunning Isle of Skye. Very fortunate to have visited there on such an amazing day.

Peat Week! 7 Days of Peated Whisky

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img_7936.jpgIt’s Peat Week here at Whisky a Day! 7 days of peated whisky.

It’s been a rainy Sunday here in Sydney, one of those long lazy afternoons that you just don’t want to finish. Not because it’s been a particularly spectacular day, but mainly because it’s been a relaxing day that is soon to be cut short by the notion of heading back to work again tomorrow morning!

So with the last vestiges of cool weather lingering, I thought it the perfect excuse to have a peated dram. Which led me to think – bugger it, why not have a whole week of peated whisky? Exploring a few different styles of peated whisky?

To a lot of people, peated whisky equates to whisky from the island of Islay in Scotland. While there are many fine examples of peated whisky from Islay, I thought it would be interesting to also explore a few peated whiskies produced in other regions around Scotland as well as a little further afield.

So here’s this week’s lineup…

Some Australian whisky to start as we explore the peated range from Limeburners. Closely followed by the recently released (and much anticipated) Lagavulin 8 Year Old to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Lagavulin distillery. The Johnnie Walker Double Black then gets a call-up, highlighting that it’s not just single malts that get all the peat. Moving across to Speyside where we’ll dabble in some Glenrothes, followed by zipping back west to the Isle of Skye to sample the Talisker Storm. Then it’s back to the home of peaty whisky – Islay – for the Bowmore 18 Year Old, before finishing off the week in style with a very rare Port Ellen 30 Year Old bottled by Douglas Laing.

So strap in your tastebuds, slip into those comfy slippers and turn off the fire alarms…it could get a little smokey in here this week.

Whisky #352 – Talisker 57° North Single Malt

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IMG_4440Talisker 57° North Single Malt. Isle of Skye, Scotland. ABV: 57.00%. Tasted at home, $127 (bottle).

Colour: Rich orangey gold.

Nose: Salty honeycomb, some very subtle hints peat.

Palate: Peppery mixed spice with a sweet vanilla undertone.

Finish: Citrusy sweet mandarin peel flavours give way in a slow gentle fade.

Comments: They named this expression Talisker 57° North because that’s the latitude of the Talisker distillery on the Isle of Skye. Whilst this has been diluted down from cask strength to an ABV of 57% (to match the latitude), it’s great to taste a stronger Talisker – I’d love to taste a cask strength release some day.

Whisky #227 – Talisker Port Ruighe (Port Finished) Single Malt

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IMG_3691Talisker Port Ruighe (Port Finished) Single Malt. Isle of Skye, Scotland. ABV: 45.80%. Tasted at Helvetica.

Colour: Copper amber.

Nose: My mate Marc picked up notes of a smokey damp pine forest. I got some sweeter toffee notes after a bit of time in the glass.

Palate: Much softer than the Talisker 10. Softer spice, still some smoke but not the fire.

Finish: Medium length, flavour fades from the front of the palate.

Comments: Toy palate, the port finish softens it a little compared to other Talisker offerings. Not all that inspiring however, though it’s certainly not a bad whisky, just middle of the road.

Whisky #201: Talisker 18 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_3553Talisker 18 Year Old Single Malt. Isle of Skye, Scotland. ABV: 45.80%. Tasted at The Royal Hotel, $15.

Colour: Lustrous orangey gold.

Nose: Smooth smoke (in that it doesn’t burn your nostrils), but still quite intense aromas. A touch of cayenne pepper.

Palate: Smooth entry, peppery toffee flavours.

Finish: Soft smokey almost sherry hints. Medium heat, lingers for a while.

Comments: A little too fiery for what I was expecting. Still smoother than the Talisker 10, but I guess I was hoping it to be much smoother. It’s a good drop with that typical Talisker spice, but I guess it goes to show you shouldn’t go into a tasting with too many preconceptions about what it’s going to be like – you should just try to enjoy it and judge it on its merits after you’ve finished.

Whisky #163 – Talisker 10 Year Old Single Malt

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IMG_3392Talisker 10 Year Old Single Malt. Isle of Skye, Scotland. ABV: 45.80%. Tasted at Lalla Rookh, $15.

Colour: Deep gold.

Nose: Lots of peat. Not as much spice as I remember.

Palate: Ah, there’s the fire and spice, but not quite as intense as I seemed to recall. Lots of peat on the palate, it dominates.

Finish: Mixed spices linger on the tip of the tongue, as does the tingle of some residual peat smoke & heat.

Comments: Talisker 10 has always been a reliable, go-to whisky for me.  You know what you’re going to get every time, it’s great value and it’s a quality drop. I haven’t had one for a while as I’ve been busy sampling 162 other whiskies so far this year. It’s definitely not as complex a flavour profile as the Talisker Distiller’s Edition that I tasted a little while ago, but it’s still a good dram. For me it’s a much better offering than the Talisker Storm (which I have yet to review here on Whisky a Day), and it definitely would not be out of place were you to pick say a selection of half a dozen decent quality and value for money single malts to start your whisky selection.

Whisky #88 – Talisker 2013 Distillers Edition Double Matured Single Malt

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IMG_3019Talisker 2013 Distillers Edition Double Matured Single Malt. Isle of Skye, Scotland. ABV: 45.80%. Tasted at my place, $125 (bottle).

Colour: Burnt nectar.

Nose: Apart from the initial whiff of self-loathing & regret from drinking too many whiskies last night, the nose here is more pleasant – subtle oak, smoke & sherry notes, but the strong alcohol feints dominate.

Palate: Lots of smoke & my mate Mahesh got plenty of ash flavours. Could it be the lingering taste of that sneaky cigarette he had earlier when his lovely wife Katie wasn’t looking? Shhhh! 😉 It’s not quite as spicy as the Talisker 10, but still plenty of heat. A slightly smoother entry, the sherry influence is there but it’s not a huge sherry bomb, more of a subtle persuasion from the sherry barrels. Certainly a rich, intense kind of flavour profile overall though.

Finish: Very long; the heat lingers through the mouth and also makes its way down the throat as you swallow, warming the whole body.

Comments: Distilled in 2002 and bottled in 2013, double matured in ex-Amoroso sherry casks. It’s definitely a big whisky, undeniably a Talisker, another real ‘winter warmer’ kind of whisky.