Talisker 57º North

Talisker 57 North N- slight salt, grassy floral T- natural sweet, meaty F- refreshing smoke, pepper It was a little sweeter and lighter than the 10 yo.

This is the review I did on Master of Malt website one year ago as soon as I opened my bottle and drank the first dram: "Just WOW!! Just opened a bottle of this nectar of Gods and WOW!! This is good, really good! Some citrus and smoke on the nose and the palate is very thick, some spice, some caramel sweetness and a little brine. Incredible mellow for 57% Add some water and the spiceness really kick in! Crazy stuff." Strangely I remember that when I tasted it the first time at the Distillery I wasn't so "wowed" as I was when drinking from my new bottle at home. So I just poured a dram to write the review and it reminded me of my first impressions. A very good whisky but the WOW factor is gone. Be sure not to keep this bottle open for a long time... Share it with some friends! ;-) (Decided it would be fair to drop 1 star for this review - Now a 4 stars)

Super strong in flavor

Flashback to the hotel room whisky share prior to Whiskyfest DC, my buddy @Generously_Paul brought ample pours of this newer NAS from Talisker: 57 degrees North. This is essentially a cask strength version of their other non-age statement offerings. The age of the juice is estimated to be 6-8 years old and the name not only indicates the ABV but also the latitudinal location of the distillery itself. Kinda cool. The color is a rich gold and there’s a few thick legs that’ll snake down the tasting glass when you give it a solid spin. The nose is typical Talisker: smoke, peat, pepper and BBQ. The saltiness provided a stiff backbone and I got what seemed like a stiff hit of mint each time I put it to my nose. I think this minty freshness could be attributed more to the extra ABV than any other factor. The palate starts you off with a strong punch from the alcohol, but then the pepper and thick Talisker smoke take hold before releasing some thin citrus notes and an odd syrupy sweetness. The harsh aspect of the young sauce also wrecks the overall mouthfeel, as well. The finish is incredibly harsh and hot. I don’t like adding water to anything I drink, especially when I only have a single pour to rate with. If I have the entire bottle to play with I may do some experimental pours and blending, but I mostly like to drink them the way the distillery intended. More smoky aspects remain behind on the finish, which was delightfully medium-long. There were some roasted nut flavors left behind long after you finish the dram. This one was tougher to enjoy than I truly expected. I love Talisker almost as much as I love Laphroaig, but this one was a bit of a failure. It’s too harsh and gets manhandled by the pepper notes. Maybe 57% is too much for their juice to handle, but they wanted a semi-cask strength offering to compete with everyone else, but this one isn’t a high quality example IMHO. 3-3.25 stars because it’s still nice and smoky, but ultimately I don’t think I’d buy a bottle of this one. Cheers.

The final bonus sample from this current round of the SDT is from everyone’s favorite Island distillery, Talisker. 57° North is a travel retail exclusive. Not only does the 57 refer to the strength of the whisky, but also the distillery’s global coordinates (which happens to be Lat 57° 17’.9N, Long 06° 21’.5 W). Bottled at 57% ABV and is most likely natural color of honey gold and I can confirm that it is non chill filtered. The nose is pepper and peat smoke, although the latter is somewhat restrained. Slightly medical. Malty/cereal, herbal and floral. BBQ meats, mostly chicken and maybe some hamburger, both of which are over cooked and dried out. Earthy and vegetal (more peat). Honey, lemon, dried apricots and grilled oranges. Balanced oak, faint mint, fennel or maybe licorice. Olive brine/salty, lemon custard and vanilla sweetness. With water there is more honey and grilled fruits, hay and chalkiness. It becomes chalky pretty quick. The palate is sweet up front but the signature Talisker pepper quickly takes control and overpowers any sweetness that was there. Not much peat or smoke at first, but it does build a bit. Ashes and barrel char, salty. Water brings out honey and citrus in the form of lemons and pineapple. A medium-full bodied mouthfeel that is semi-dry and mouth coating. The finish is medium length, dry, slightly nutty with plenty of pepper, oak and a puff of smoke. The opposite of the 18 year old. Instead of elegant and refined, it’s a battering ram of pepper and spice. This is definitely a young whisky. Based on the high ABV and lack of real depth this is more than apparent. It’s main attribute is its brute force and ability to assault your senses (in a good way). Not much water needed, if any, to enjoy this one. Still, I would take the iconic 10 year old over this one any day of the week. I’d take the Storm/Dark Storm too. At $95 it’s not a great bargain either, considering the Dark Storm is about $30 less and they are both TREs (no tax since I got them at duty free) and both are 1L bottles. Yes the 57 gives you an extra 11.2% ABV, but in my opinion the trade off isn’t worth the money. Having said all that, this is still a solid 4 star single malt. Cheers

R: burny but rich. More body than the Ardmore. (Would love to try this again with a bit of water.) D: fills your mouth before you even start drinking it. Smoke carries all the way through. Nice and rich, creamy. Nutty. Touches every area of your mouth with flavor. Tasted at Edinvane Inn while watching live music.