Talisker 18 Years Old

Island single malt scotch whisky

45.8% ABV, £73.81 at Master of Malt

Score: 88/100

What they say:

TALISKER 18 YEAR OLD
“When first nosed there was fruit, a lot of it: plums, orange peel, a richer sweeter experience than expected.

Adding water brought out the Talisker of old: seaweed, smoke, low level peat, with the characteristic chilli catch in the finish. Highly appealing to my taste”

Mark Lochead, Distillery Manager

STRENGTH
45.8% ABV

APPEARANCE
Amber

NOSE
Rich and fruity Victoria plums, greengages, perhaps dried orange peel with some butterscotch or rum toffee and a thread of smoke behind. The smoke soon advances into the foreground and the toffee note is joined by a light mintiness. With water, those maritime characteristics emerge once again dry boat varnish, edible seaweed. Still sweet; now with notes of iodine and the smokiness of an un-struck match.

BODY
Full. Pleasant, smooth.

PALATE
Sweet in front, then more assertive, with a whiff of smoke. The overall effect is warming. The development is towards smoke, coal-tar and toffee.

FINISH
Medium length. The characteristic chilli ‘catch’ in the finish is subtly present in the aftertaste.

What I say:

Sampled during Water of Life Society (WoLS) meeting 13/02/2014 – Spirit of the movies

Mr James Bond’s favourite and only whisky tipple according to Ian Fleming, seems M likes a drop of this too, Bond is a real Scotsman with a good taste for whisky it seems. I guess all the shaken dry martini’s were ordered mostly for throwing into bad guy’s faces.