First there was a Storm (meh), then there was a Dark Storm (huzzah), now there is a Surge. Is this the progression from the storms, or is this another TRE cash grab by the evil overlords at Diageo? With the evocative story lines of Storm and Surge, the battered coastline of Skye is easy to picture. But Trevor in marketing was clearly on lunch break for this release. Surge has a throw away watered down bit of storm related text and thats it. As for a comment about whats in the juice? Literally all I know is it was matured in ex bourbon barrels. For the price of it I want to know that cthulhu is surging form a watery abyss to cram salty demons down my throat. Alas. Still, the worst Talisker is still an enjoyable dram, so lets surge on… N: Salty crisp perfection. Smoke pushes through the salty wall carrying a healthy medicinal twang to the beach bonfire. Hints of toffee and mocha entwined with a vaguely floral honey. For the abrupt salt forward approach this is a delicate thing. As it sits in the glass I perhaps find a peppermint or menthol sinus opening freshness. P: Thinly oily with late ashiness. That gripping Talker cracked pepper to chilli is there and its delightful as always. Salty, unsurprisingly with plenty of minerality. Fresh oysters and a touch of BBQ bacon bits. Heavy on the dark chocolate, sweet notes of raisin (just about) and honied malt. After a little while I am picking up an almost soapy orange note at the front of my palate, a little odd; I’m not sure it’s supposed to be there. F: Long. Lingering ashy smoke, chilli bite, and an ever-present saltiness that has soft tannic toffee in the background. Surge, hmm. After being hit with a wall of salt on the nose I thought Cthulhu was coming for me after all, but it was more of a sea spray than a surging leviathan. An interesting liquid to be sure. The menthol/peppermint late in the nose; makes me wonder if there is part of the 57 North component in here? Maybe. It’s the only other Talisker I have noted it on. Hmm. The heavy blow of of the palate is a maritime smack down. But, it feels like a less refined Talisker 18, especially with the odd soapy orange at the end. I wonder what that is, the effect of sulphur perhaps? The finish is just fine, perhaps too salty stopping some of the calming vanillin coming through. Is it a Surge, it s a salt slap. It’s enjoyable, it will make you pay attention, but its not worth the asking price when the Dark Storm is a 1L for the same price or less in the TRE/NAS bracket. Distiller whisky taste #259 [Pictured here with an ‘anyolite’. This pretty thing comes from the Arusha region of Tanzania in Africa and is named after the Massai word ‘anyoli’ meaning green. Thats not an accepted name though, so best call it what it is, a corundum {ruby} - zoisite - pargasite - granofels. OK, for the sake of character count, anyolite will do. This region of Africa brings the goods every time; the Mozambique belt runs from East Antarctica, through East Africa and into Arabia. A huge mountain suture zone that formed when the super continent Gondwana came together. Along with the ocean sediments that go cooked up in this suture, ocean floor rocks also got super heated and transformed into impressive rock types like this one] Talisker running scores: T10: 4/5 T18: 4.75/5 T8 2021 Special Release: 4.5/5 Skye: 3.25/5 Port Ruighe: 2.75/3 Storm: 3.5/5 Dark Storm: 4.25/5 Surge: 4/5 57 North: 4.25/5 X Parley Wilder Seas: 4.25/5