Talisker "Talimburg" 19 year old 1986 The Whisky Fair, cask 1485

I'm going to stay with the whole Indie Talisker theme this week. Today's item is a bit of a dusty dram bottled by The Whisky Fair (from Deutschland) back in 2005. At 45.9%abv, it may have been diluted to approximately 0.1% more alcohol by volume than the official Taliskers. Or the angels snorted nothing but C₂H₅OH out of this cask. Because Diaego/DCL/SMD often did not allow 3rd parties to use Talisker's name on bottlings, The Whisky Fair put a little German twist on the name, calling it Talimburg.

Name: Talimburg
Actual Distillery: Talisker

Independent Bottler: The Whisky Fair

Age: 19 years (May 1986 - June 2005)

Maturation: bourbon hogshead
Cask number: 1485
Bottles: 252

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered: No
Colored: No

Thank you to Cobo-san for providing this sample!

Just to note, I tried this whisky alongside the whisky I'm reviewing tomorrow.

The color is a nice simple amber. Oooh, lots of old dunnage funk, hot tar and burnt plastic on the nose. That somehow totally grooves with the golden raisin and dried apricot notes. Then lemongrass/citronella. With 30+ minutes in the glass, the whisky issues a barley/bran cereal note, as well as some butter. Like the nose, the palate starts with aggressive dirty funky stuff. Then mint leaves and Fernet-Branca. Brown sugar and cinnamon. Ink. It's herbal as all hellfire. It's like a bitter herbal liqueur with a little bit of tar and cinnamon blended in. It finishes very herbal as well, with ink, salt, and tart and tangy lemons.

Whew, this is a brisk, crisp, sharp thing, unlike any whisky being produced now. It'll put hair on your ears. Or, in some cases, MORE hair on your ears. The palate is devoid of oak, yet is not immature; it feels like it was actually aged instead of having more wood thrust into it.

Phrasing!

I don't know if there are any unopened bottles of this stuff left on the planet. If you do have one, or one pops up in an auction, you can also take a look at Serge's review and the Whisky Monitor. My opinion is this is a whisky for a very specific palate. If you like funky, salty, herbal bombs then this Talimburg is for you.

Availability - Happy Hunting!
Pricing - ???
Rating - 86