Talisker - Distillers Edition 1991-2004 - 45,8%
Picture taken at Roche Bobois Stuttgart
Not sure if it's still the aftermath of new years eve, but after recently having the Talisker DE 2016 we thought it might be a good idea to go down to the basement and crack up the vintage 1991 release. Who can be against some vertical tasting? May the collectors gods forgive us...
Nose
Watch out the sherry monster!
We have old leather, tarr, pine needles, sage, menthol and most of all, thick cough syrup. But also sweet Dresdner Stollen, with tons of raisins. According to the label, it's "only finished" in amoroso casks. But the casks they used must have been ultra active. If we didn't know this is only 12 years old and blind out the huge Talisker pepperness, we would have guessed a very old fully sherry cask matured Glendronach behind this (minimum 20 years plus).
Palate
Sweet, thick, heavy and peppery. We have butter cake, medjoul dates, dark chocolate with espresso and hazelnut liqueur. Without losing balance, it creates such a concentrated, spicy and peppery mouth feel with a continuous play between date sweetness and cocoa bitterness.
Finish
Longer than Ravel's Bolero (with same arc of suspense). Lapsang Souchong tea with hazelnuts, grapefruit and some tarr. Absolutely beautiful!
Rating
This Talisker is not what we have expected and is very different to the modern Distillers Edition. It's lacking the distinctive maritime and honey notes on one hand, but is much more complex, highly concentrated and thick on the other hand. We cannot get rid of the feeling of having a quarter of century old malt in our glass, which is bloody brillant!
