Between the Skye, Storm, and Port Ruighe, Diageo seems committed to ruining one of their best distillery's whisky. On the other hand, I've always enjoyed the Distillers Editions. So, I'll give this creation a try...
Distillery: Talisker
Ownership: Diageo
Region: Isle of Skye
Bottling year: 2023
Maturation: First round: ???; Second round: white, tawny, and ruby port casks
Outturn: ?????
Alcohol by Volume: 59.7%
Chillfiltered? probably not
e150a? probably not
(from a bottle split)
NEAT
An aggressive perfume-y soap note floods the nose. Behind that? Blue raspberry candy, fig jam, and dark chocolate. It gets more coastal with time, but the perfume note never fully dissipates. It's a young mezcal-ish Talisker on the palate, but it's more complex than the average baby Tali. It's mossy and salty with hints of orange, lime, and tart berries. Not too hot and no perfume. It finishes salty, mossy, acidic, and peppery.
DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The perfume-y soap remains in the nose, albeit in the midground. Peat lives up front. With vanilla, ginger ale, and mezcal in the back. The palate feels simple but focused. Sooty, vegetal mezcal with salt and pepper. It finishes salty, peppery, and sooty.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
The nose is a problem, but the palate is not. It's still very young, but better than all those immature single cask mezcals Taliskers, so the casks did their work without turning it syrupy sweet. Perhaps the winter would have been a better time to try this peaty critter. If you don't trust this particular sample, please see see Mr. Opinions's and Mr. Fun's reviews for different takes.
