Tastes

Neat in Glencairn at home. Nose is full of spice, but not sharp, with notes of freshly baked cherry and apple pies, along with some rounded vinous notes. Interesting. Taste brings out more of the vinous character, which lends some bitterness to the baking spices, along with some orange peel and clove. I don't love it, but it is unique and I am sure others with different taste preferences could really dig it. 3/11/2020

Neat in Glencairn at home. Thanks for the bottle, Randy B. (this is being written before tasting). Nose is spice-forward, with some vanilla and woody notes coming through. Perhaps a bit dusty. Taste is grassy and astringent, thin and full of ethanol, with dust and tree bark as well. No, no, and again no. Not undrinkable, but just barely so. 2/13/2020.

Neat in a Bowman mini tasting goblet at home. Nose is sweet and fruity, bringing to mind an Entenmann's mini cherry pie. Some mild baking spice comes on at the end. Nice. Taste has more fruit notes, with apricot, lemon, and cherries; powdered sugar and honey; an interesting sweet spice unfamiliar to me, but lingers well. This is an excellent dram. 2/4/2020

Neat in Glencairn at home. Present from a young client's parents; this is one I would likely never have bought for myself, given the price point and the style. Cheers! Nose is sweet sherry over mild oak, strong apples on top, hint of honeysuckle, a big hit of Asian pear, followed by mild heather. Taste is a touch less fruity, but the apples and pears do remain, with some astringent oak notes, sweet candy citrus peel, finishing with a lingering mild spice. Pretty darn good. Definitely be happy with it as a gift, probably buy it on sale. 02/03/2020.

Neat in a rocks glass at Liberty BBQ in the FC. No nuance here, this is vanilla and caramel under bold and spicy rye. Good. 1/31/20

Neat in Glencairn at home. Very light in color. Nose has apples, astringent oak, dusty hay. Resting for a few minutes brings out notes of chalky fruity candy. Interesting. Taste is a little hot and astringent, with oak, spice, ethanol, mild apple. Overall, eh. 1/27/2020.

375ml in a three-bottle special cask finish series box. Batch no. 18-07, bottle no. 1903. Actually a great deal at $99.99, as buying the three bottles in 750ml totals $225. Tasted all three in a row, Cognac-Madeira-Sherry. Neat in Glencairn at home. Nose is prominently sherry, sweet with some caramel and vanilla notes coming in. Hint of apples. Really nice. Taste has oak and vanilla cutting straight through the sherry presence, with stone fruit and grape must lingering, then mild spice lasting through the finish. Of the three in the cask finish series box, this has the nicest nose for sure, though the drop-off in the taste therefore is very noticeable. I think, overall, I like the Madeira the most overall. 1/30/20.

375ml in a three-bottle special cask finish series box. Batch no. 18-04, bottle no. 4606. Actually a great deal at $99.99, as buying the three bottles in 750ml totals $225. Tasted all three in a row, Cognac-Madeira-Sherry. Neat in Glencairn at home. Nose has some candied orange peel, astringent oak, mild baking spices, sweet grape must. Taste is deeper and less astringent, with apple and cloves coming out over the sweet vinous notes, with come orange peel and spices lingering. Tasty. 1/30/2020.

375ml in a three-bottle special cask finish series box. Batch no. 18-04, bottle no. 1331. Actually a great deal at $99.99, as buying the three bottles in 750ml totals $225. Tasted all three in a row, Cognac-Madeira-Sherry. Neat in Glencairn at home. Nose has vanilla, orange peel, some nice sweet spice (if that's a thing). Taste brings out some oily notes from the cognac cask, grape must, candied orange peel, clove, apples. Lingering oil and spice. Nice. 1/30/20.

Neat in Glencairn at home. Really like the 10, so have high hopes. Nose has definite maritime notes of sea air and brine, with some pear and wet grass as well. Taste has strong black pepper over dank seaside, hints of ash and smoke on the back end into the finish. Lite stone fruit comes on late as well. Somewhat out of balance, and something damp and dark here that takes away from the great Talisker seaside character. Shame. 1/7/20