Talisker 10yo
2021 Release | 45.8% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good Stuff.
TL;DR
A nice introduction to a coastal malt, but it’s getting a little expensive
A Good Gateway Whisky To Get A Taste For Salinity, Brine, And A Tasty Waft Of Smoke
It amazes me when I reflect on the start of my whisky journey and how deep down the rabbit hole I find myself now. Those initial sips of Famous Grouse, Jameson, and Jack Daniels, then how quickly curiosity got the better of me to explore more and chase the flavour. Subsequently, I picked up my first single malt passing through travel retail at Barcelona airport. A Glenfiddich NAS that was on offer and Glenfiddich being the only brand I recognised as a ‘good’ Scotch single malt.
I’d always tend to try a dram alongside another whisky, so I can get the contrast and comparison between each pour. It has really helped fine tune some of the nosing and tasting notes over the years, and I’d like to think I have become a bit better with it all. That Glenfiddich started off the Scotch tasting, as I began to learn about Speyside (and the flavour profile amongst the Speyside peers), among the other whisky regions that lay in Scotland. Obviously, I was impatient, wanting to try each individual region in turn to expand my whisky knowledge and tasting experience.
One bottle quickly turned into 5 bottles. It’s funny how quick your whisky collection can grow. I tend to count the Islands as their own whisky region in Scotland, especially having tasted a few from the ‘islands’ and seen how different they can indeed be from Highland malts. The only thing I couldn’t get my hands on (having purchased the bottles from my local supermarket) was Campbeltown. It’s always been an elusive region that I find difficult to find locally or online.
Alongside the Glenfiddich Select Cask NAS, I brought the following into the sipping family: Glenfiddich 12, Glenmorangie 10, Auchentoshan Three Wood, Laphroaig 10. The duo I was looking forward to the most was Talisker 10 and Highland Park 12 (before all the Viking nonsense). Talk about your typical entry level line up – I was super excited to pop these open and try them alongside each other. Having watched a good few videos from Aqvavitae and No Nonsense whisky, a flight of whisky seemed like a lot of fun.
To ease myself into the new coastal/island drams, I poured the Highland Park and Talisker alongside the Glenfiddich. A soft and fruity Speyside to really get the contrast of flavour notes from the other whiskies. Having read online reviews of Talisker, I was eager to explore how a whisky could be smoky, briny and contain a hint of salt. I was naïve in this early stage of the tasting journey to believe these tasting notes were real. The same went for HP 12. Revered by many in the online whisky review community, I was like a kid in a sweet shop with this tasty flight in front of me.
I can laugh now looking back, but during those initial sniffs and sips, Jesus, I hated both the Talisker and Highland Park. I’m totally serious. I couldn’t get past the wisps of smoke and up-front wafts of alcohol. The Glenfiddich helped differentiate the nose of the other 2 drams, but I thought to myself it would take me a while to really pick out distinct notes. So, I might as well give it a sip to see how these differing regions taste. Having taken a slurp of the Highland Park, followed by a swig of water, then went to the Talisker I was immediately reminded of an ashtray. My parents both smoked when I was growing up, and I absolutely hated the smell of a used ashtray, and the tobacco & ash odour that would find its way to me if I was in the vicinity. It hit my stomach immediately, and I could feel myself getting nauseated. Give me the rest of the Glenfiddich, and some more water. I think I’m done for the night.
“Talisker Distillery dates back to 1830 when brothers Hugh and Kenneth MacAskill leased a site and constructed the distillery. Ultimately, Talisker passed into the hands of the Distillers Company Ltd (DCL) in 1925, and today it is owned by DCL’s successor company Diageo, the world’s largest distiller.”
Like I said, I can laugh now at my initial reaction and taste of these 2 whiskies. Peat, smoke, and maritime flavours were not for me at that early stage of my whisky journey. The Highland Park, Talisker and Laphroaig (although I didn’t mind the Islay peat) remained untouched and at the back of the cabinet. In fact, I gave the Highland Park to a work colleague. I was happy to share and get rid of this bottle!
Now, I absolutely love smoke and subtle peat to a whisky. Some of my favourite pours have been Benromach, Loch Lomond and Ardnamurchan. I’ve been lucky to get the old branding Highland Park 12 and 18 to try, both delicious whiskies. The Talisker 10 for me is a good staple whisky, one that will always be in my collection for a nice pour when I want some smoke and a coastal experience.
Those flavour notes aren’t as prominent and loud as they once were during my first sip. It’s fabulous how over time, your palate changes and you can become enamoured with flavours you once ‘hated’. I find this to continue to happen more recently too. I was never a fan of olives but liked the idea of them, if you know what I mean. Now I find them quite tasty. So try things again after a while. Experiment once more with something you know you don’t like, and you never know, your own palate might surprise you.
Review
2021 Edition, 45.8% ABV
Between £40 – £45 and available almost everywhere
This Isle of Skye whisky comes in at 45.8% ABV. It costs between £40 – 45, and available at the majority of online retailers and U.K supermarkets. On offer it can be available for £30-35, which is more like it.
No mention of natural colour or non-chill filtered on the label. There has been a recent change to the labelling of the Talisker 10-year-old, and I like it. The orange trim around the label blends in nicely to the amber tone of this whisky, and the label cut shows us the Skye coast that the distillery is located on. It’s different and works well.
Nose
A shy whisky. Refined and it takes a while to tease out some distinctive notes. Slowly but surely toffee and some soft fudge begin to announce themselves. It reminds me slightly of Werther’s original hard sweets. There’s vanilla cream. Crumbly biscuits and warm honey. Custard cream biscuits. You have pecans and large chunks of rock salt. Orchard fruits and a little diced pineapple in there too.
Palate
Initially it’s slowly warming in the mouth, and it presents itself as a little thin. Second sip, it has a creamy element to it, with some aspects of butterscotch. Some warm custard with a dusting of milk chocolate flakes. Porridge oats with slices of red apple. Here comes the seaside. It has some brine mixed with heather and a bit earthy. There’s a touch of smoke, like a campfire smoke and peppery on the back end. The lingering taste contains smoke, spice, and honey. The honey sweetness turns into a clove rock hard sweet. A bit prickly on the tip of the tongue but turns a touch bitter on the back end before dropping off entirely.
The Dregs
While the price of this whisky seems to be creeping up over time, it’s not bad. I don’t think it’s worth the £45 price, you can get some other whiskies from newer brands that deliver some more flavour and nuance for that kind of money. However, I often see a small 5cl gift pack of 3 Talisker drams which is a great way to get to know this distillery and the flavour it brings. Again, good to pour yourself a small flight, see what the essence of Talisker is and how different each expression can be.
I like this whisky, and if I can get this on offer, I’ll tend to always pick one up if I’ve ran out. If there’s a dram or flavour out there that you don’t like I’d recommend trying it again after a while. Or a variation of the type. You’d be surprised how your own preferences and likes can change over time. From my own experience, that change happened quicker than I could imagine especially towards a smoky dram and one that’s much higher in ABV.
Score: 6/10
Gallie’s Review
Score: 5/10
Average. In a positive way.
TL;DR
This peated stalwart is perhaps a little sweet and simplistic now.
When I first tasted Talisker 10, I was early on in my whisky journey. I was more impressed by it then. Have I changed, or has Talisker changed? It’s probably both. First off, there’s the brash new labelling. I don’t agree with Hamish on this point; I think the more understated old labelling was more visually appealing, and that the orange of the new labels highlights the distinct lack of natural colour. I am also not sold on the gateway whisky idea (as regular readers will be aware), but I admit that this whisky’s sweetness and straightforwardness is likely to lend it wider appeal than some other peated offerings.
Nose
This is a pretty sweet nose for a peated whisky (an Ardbeg, to give just one example, would be drier). This mingled with the smell of cured meat gives the impressed of sweet-cured American bacon. Lurking in the background, as so often, there’s green apple skin (which becomes more like apple cider vinegar later on). The smokiness is cinder-y, like coals. There’s a smell of plastic too, and something strangely fishy.
Palate
The flavour hits your palate like an acidic ‘line’ – this is not a toothsomely oily whisky. There’s that sweet peat smoke, of course, and black pepper. The sweetness is like soft brown sugar. There’s a bit of rubber coming through. The aftertaste is somewhere between yoghurt and apples. There’s not a huge amount of complexity overall.
The Dregs
I might just not be used to peated whisky after a few weeks off, but I found this Talisker quickly overwhelming, and a bit too indistinct. I compared with an older bottling, and that gave me quite particular notes on the nose (German liverwurst) and palate (Demerara sugar), along with a generally lighter and more savoury flavour. If I could get this for the 30€ or less it often retails for on ye olde continent, I would call it a good deal. At £45, I would look elsewhere, but that’s probably down to my tastes.
Score 5/10 GM
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. HF
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