Talisker 25 year old (2005 special release)

A prime example of how age tames smoke into grace complemented by a fruity whisky with a hint of sherry influence. Nose: Vanilla, Guava, Pineapples, Guava, Bacon, Cherries, Peaches, Apricots, Sultanas, Roses Palate: Oranges, Cherries, Honey, Salted Caramel, Vanilla, Brown Sugar, Dark Chocolate, Raspberries Finish: Raspberries, Vanilla, Smoke, Peaches, Coal, White Chocolate

What is a 5 whisky to me? A 5 is something that flat out changes your perceptions not about whisky, but brings happiness to you that you that your 18 year old self couldn't have imagined a beverage doing. It can't just be a moment of bliss, but it has to linger and last, changing, dare I say it must have not one crescendo but it must peak over and over again while you savor it. it isn't that it is "perfect" but that the moment you're having with it is and that it can be repeated. I had the great pleasure of getting 3 pours over the course of a bottle's life of a 2004 edition. The first pour was aggressive, assertive, and powerful. The second was fruity, complex, lively. The final one seemed older and as if with time it had become something more influential in the glass. While I generally don't review whiskies I don't have a bottle of or at least an hour plus with a fairly healthy sample, I can assure you that was a 5 every time I had it. Today I have the blissful opportunity to share with you my thoughts on a fresh bottle pour of a 2005 edition I recently acquired. Nose - there is an almost fresh and clean element here. Fruity, tropical fruits all over, reminding me perhaps a bit of a tropical fruit skittles candy. The aged by sea idea is in full force as you almost can smell the sea breeze in all of this fresh and lightly salty, briney goodness. Grape fruits and pineapples and just this wonderful mix of sweetness. Water teases out some oak tannin pushes out more of the salty brine notes and is now giving me a very distinct vanilla note I wasn't getting before. Taste - The talisker spicy profile is here in full force as this is truly a journey of experiences and flavors. The sweet skittle like note is here upfront, balances with sea salt and brine. Then you start down this path of light peat notes, sea salt, spice, and a vanilla and fruit fused transition. It's like riding down a perfectly smooth road of flavors waiting for the next turn. Of course that turn brings us to this amazing finish where the fruits get a bit darker (more orchard like, though I'm not sure I get say apples), the oak comes out and gives this an almost chewy finish almost making me think I'm about to chew on something like a tootsie roll. While I'm not sure I'd go to chocolate there is a dark sweetness from the oak that is very familiar and incredibly inviting. Water much like in the nose is bringing out a bit more salty character, if one were a bit disappointed with the fruity and sweet notes, this pushes it back a touch and brings forward a bit more of the island heart. This is a whisky I plan to have a very long time and it'll be one I go to in celebration of great moments. This is happiness in a glass folks. This is the kind of dram that us geeks spend years and countless dollars chasing in hopes of finding that special moment with a glass where the whisky just takes us places. Well guys, I need to end this review because frankly, this whisky is too good to allow myself this distraction from it. Quick ending note - the 45% version that's out today IMHO is utter garbage in contrast to these CS versions. It honestly doesn't taste anything like this. Today's 30's while better than the 25 by a margin are still nothing remotely close to this. Make no mistake the whisky was simply better in the past.

$68 for one ounce at Jack Rose. This is the best Talisker I have ever tried. This is back when “Made by the sea” spoke for itself. Now, there’s videos of metrosexual sailors by Talisker on Instagram trying to remind me they are still “made by the sea.” This beast makes the modern day Taliskers more like “made by a puddle” in comparison. Even my treasured 27 year old 1985 Maritime Edition Talisker at 56.1% is minor leagues compared to this. Maturation for this whisky would have started in 1979-80. This does not fuck around. Older Taliskers these days get a pass for being soft. “It’s mellowed out,” we say. “It’s more refined,” we argue. This Talisker has the complexity and richness of 25 years of maturation, and it still lays a haymaker like a cresting Atlantic wave… with a shark inside. Mindblowing orchard fruits and citrus. Devastating spices with black pepper, fennel, cinnamon, and bay leaves. Dirty earthy notes of rope, fresh asphalt, and clay. It’s sweet, peppery, and earthy, all at the same time. There is so much going on that you almost miss the smoke and salinity in the background. This needs a little bit of dilution, if for nothing else but to turn the volume down a little. This was a heartbreaking dram in that I realize I have been blind to the degradation of what I thought was a decent distillery. Talisker was made by the sea. It was. Score: **** (My own piss after drinking this was on par with Talisker 10) How much does a bottle cost: I see 650 pounds and in stock at Whisky Exchange How much do I think a bottle is worth: $800