Review by: The Muskox

Let’s set the record straight here: _asipper went to Scotland, visited loads of distilleries, bought all the distillery exclusives, hauled them back to the US, then split them all out for people to try. What a dude.

This is the same distillery exclusive that my friend zSolaris picked up in August. Talisker is the only distillery in Scotland that I’ve actually visited personally, though at the time I wasn’t interested in whisky. I actually took pictures of the ridiculous tasting notes on some of the bottles, thinking it was impossible for all these flavours to be in a whisky, and that all my friends were wasting their money. Oh, how times have changed…

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Distillery: Talisker.

Bottler: Official bottling.

Region: Islands.

ABV: 59.8%, cask strength.

Age: 9 years old. Bottled in 2022.

Cask type: Rejuvenated Red Wine.

Price: £120 at the distillery.

Color: No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

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Nose: Winey and spicy. Chili crisp smoke, white pepper, and toasted sesame seeds. Cheap balsamic vinegar. Plenty of reddish fruit – cherry jam, wine gums, raspberry tea, grenadine, grapefruit peel. Some more classic Talisker notes of sea salt, charred fennel, smoked whitefish, and apple, as well as a hint of rosehips.

Palate: Medium texture. Sweet-tart arrival with lots of wine, citrus juices, and raspberry/balsamic vinagrette. Develops to charred, savoury peat smoke. Seared steak with garlic butter, or some kind of soy-sauce glazed salmon. Some nice deep-woods earthiness. Some baked apples are hiding deep in there. Brown sugar on the back end.

Finish: Medium. Root vegetable chips, red wine, sweet paprika, ginger candies, vanilla, oak, salted plantain chips.

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Wine bar dinner all stacked on one plate.”

Notes: This doesn’t work as well as I want it too. Rather than being integrated, it seems like the wine is sitting on top of the dram, as this weird extra layer disconnected from the spirit. While I like the charred and savoury flavours, I’m not a big fan of that vinegarette note, and I don’t think either go very well with the intense reduced-red-wine sweetness that permeates the dram. This one is unfortunately a bit of a miss for me.

Final Score: 79.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.