Talisker 30 Year

Salty peat notes, some sweetness. Very good, probably not worth $1k+ though.

Dramfest Rare / Old tasting session. It was up against tough competition, '77 Benromach, '78 Caperdonich, and a 1980s 15 year Glenfarclas. This was the 2008 Edition i tried vs the 2015 last time. Light, sweet, maritime salty lemon. Nice dram but didn't hold a candle to the other drams.

Man, i picked a jewel for my 250th Whisky and for a new year's eve dram. It is no mystery that Talisker is my favorite brand, and this, was remarkable. Bottled at 45.8%abv, a classic Talisker measure. Tawny color, angel touched. On the nose it was fantastic. On the palate it was fantastic. The aftertaste was fantastic. The balance was fantastic. End of the review, 100 points. Ok, ok... i will do it properly. It is a 394$ bottle. Neist point is very much alike for $173. That is the only bad thing about it. Nose: Blackberry marmalade meets peat. Meat, Leather (the mythical leather note from old, matured whiskies). Jam, lots of it. English sauce and a caramel/honey note. Amazing. Palate: Has a sweetness in the back, very pleasant. Explosive pepper. So smoky! I can swear smoke comes out your throat like having a cigarrette. Aftertaste: Salt finish, leather. so complex and pleasant. Incredible dram. A 100 over 100 is my score, a very fair one. Everywhere i look for reviews on this one they agree on the perfect score. It is nlt the best whisky ever, but it sure gets close to it. Slainte! Happy new year!

Whilst I agree with the taste descriptors RM outlined I'm more in alignment with scotch harding's scoring. It has the same issue the bottle of 18 I tried has too hot and harsh. I've tried the 25 twice, once was average and overwooded and once was very good so it seems once again there maybe variation in the top end of the Talisker range. Whilst I have a preference generally for younger Islays or best of all blends of young and old stock I still appreciate the exquisite quality of say the Laphroaig 18 or 25. The older Taliskers I've tried mostly don't even have that. They seem all over the place. I thought initially it was a sample vs bottle thing but I drank a whole bottle of the 18 and it didn't improve. It seems the older dated bottles were a lot higher rated on average... hopefully not another scotch distillery going down the toilet. Hopefully your bottle is a better one @1901!