Monday 18 June 2012



Smoke On The Water























Whisky: Talisker 10 yr old

Distiller:

Talisker
 

Bottle:

Talisker 10 Year old

Region:

Island

ABV:

45.8%

Colour:

Pale Straw

Review:

I was lucky enough to get a chance to try Talisker 10 yr old a few weeks ago on a very special night.

My first wedding anniversary!

My wife and I went to the hotel where we spent our honeymoon for dinner because we were extremely broke and we couldn't afford much.   As we sat down for dinner we looked over the menu and I went straight to the whiskies.  To aid in our adventure I had brought along my whisky bible. The cheapest whisky on the menu was the Talisker 10 yr old.

Talisker 10 yr old scored a 93 in my bible so my wife and I thought it was worth a shot since we couldn't afford anything else.

I must be honest I'm glad that we tried it!  They brought out our drink (only one for the two of us) in the biggest tumbler I have ever seen.  I was blown away to see this little bit of liquid in this massive glass produce these lovely aromas! Smoke on the water is what floated through my mind.  Fruit (citrus), Smoke, a hint of peat, salt and pepper.  We didn't taste any of the sausage talked about in the bible though.

The taste was the same, but it was just a hint of fruit while the smoke and pepper jumped up and down on my tongue!!   Lovely!  Even better my wife who doesn't enjoy smoke or peat in her whiskies at all (she's a speyside woman!) enjoyed the Talisker immensely!!  A little bit of water (just a couple drops!) opens up the fruit and smoke with the pepper retreating just a little bit.  Still quite lovely.

The finish is long and lingering with the pepper continuing to jump and down all around my palate and down my throat.  This is an awesome whisky!!   However I don't think this would be a whisky that I would introduce a person new to whisky to as I think the smoke and pepper might scare them away.

This whisky is pretty damn affordable, running at just $65 AUS which in the Land Down Under is what we call bloody cheap!  I loved this bottle so much that the first paycheck that I could afford to I went and grabbed a bottle from Dan Murphy's, the local liquor store.  It's a damn good winter dram with all those lovely spices and smoke and after this all I can say is I can't wait to try some of the older expressions of this awesome distillery and I know for sure that I'll always have a bottle of this in my whisky cabinet!

Nose:        23/25
Taste:      23/25
Finish:       24/25
Balance:    22/25

Overall:    92/100

2 comments:

  1. This is one of my favorite single malts. It's smoky and peaty like an Islay malt, it also has that briny salt air nose that reminds you of Old Pulteny or Highland Park, but what makes it unique, is the hot pepper kick that is pure Talisker! Great Stuff!

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  2. Totally dead on about that pepper kick. Love it. My wife and I couldn't believe how much we enjoyed that one little glass of this and the aromas that came off that giant tumbler were like something from the whisky gods!

    If you want a good and solid whisky in your cabinet and you don't want to pay too much you should always have a bottle of Talisker 10 yr in your cabinet!

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