Talisker 10 - Early 90’s - Split Label - 45,8%
Photo taken somewhere in Stuttgart
In our humble opinion, Talisker 10 is THE best value for money bottling on the market. Period. It spices up every Old Fashioned or Whisky Sour Cocktail and has enough complexity and pepper to still entertain whisky geeks after a long day. That's why we thougt it might be an excellent idea to explore the history of this legendary standard, which was released straight after the introduction of the famous Classic Malts in 1987 by Distillers Company Limited (DCL), who are now Diageo. Hence this bottling was the first representative spreading the maritime soul of Talisker to a wider audience and marking an important milestone on the way to their current popularity.
Nose
When did they come up with their "Made by the sea"?! It's so coastal indeed, call it Poseidon's own son. The saltiest seaspray, fresh oxygen, seaweed and old ropes.
There is also a slight sourness of sourdough, spread with manuka honey, crushed walnuts and a few drops of apple cider. The whole bouquet is gentle and balanced (almost elegant). Very different to the punchy, modern 10 year old. It definitely needs a few minutes in the glass to breath.
Palate
Tastes like roasted honey! We frankly didn't expect such oiliness and smoothness. This juice is tasty and fat as hell. No wonder they used one litre bottles back in those days, so you can sip this all night long. The honey sweetness combined with salted caramel and milk chocolate, spiced with a distinct pepperness make it dangerously drinkable. We remember the current Ten to be a bit sharper and spicier.
Finish
Long and dry, with plenty of black pepper and the oldest grapefruit peels you can find. But also, and that's new, an idea of boiled, honeyed milk (the one we got treated with when we had a sore throat).
Rating
Let's bring our self invented term "Taliskerness" onto the table again. Such bottlings are the reason we love and drink Single Malt Whisky. The art of creating such distinctive coastal flavours, just out of malted barley, yeast, pot stills and oak casks moved Robert L. Stevenson to compose 'The king o' drinks, as I conceive it,
Talisker, Isla, or Glenlivet'.
