Talisker 8 Year (2018 Special Release)

This was one of more than two dozen whiskies I tasted Saturday at The Whisky Show London, by far the best event of its kind that I've been to. I happened to be in town this weekend and was lucky enough to get a ticket from the show's wait list, as it was sold out officially. I keep promising to swear off these shows as they really are the antithesis of the art of whisky appreciation, but the sensible price and fantasy pour list made this one hard to resist. It was as if The Whisky Exchange had just thrown open its doors and invited everyone to dive in. Every distiller you can think of was there, pouring their top tier drams, alongside all the great independent bottlers. It's a measure of how hard it was to narrow down the 600+ choices that I all but ignored the Pappy stand. Of course, sensible tasting notes are impossible under these circumstances, but I will attempt to get a few up alongside a slew of four and five star ratings. With so much choice, it was easy to avoid the merely good whiskies. The Talisker 8 was surprisingly smooth at its cask strength and as distinct from the 10 as that one is from the 18. The dominant flavor was Nutella. Yes, chocolate and hazelnut. Beyond that, I have nothing useful to report for now, though I did bring a bottle back for a colleague. Perhaps he'll share.