I have said it before, and I will say it again, I am not a huge fan of rum casks. They are just too jarring to me to be balanced and in my opinion; good. But this is the mighty Talisker. Surely the 2020 special edition will deliver the goods… N: Wow, straight off the nose this is a sour sweetness like fermenting apples on the orchard floor. *A short while later…* Ok. Now that the initial sour-sweet overpowering nose has abated there is a delicacy to the sweetness that it imbued with sea side minerality, fresh seaweed, a lift of antiseptic, a stewed brown sugar and apple, and then the all important Talisker bonfire. The smoke is cool though, slightly distant, and wonderful. P: This is 57.9% ABV? I don’t believe it! Wow, that is gentle, soft, silky and mouth filling. If I could speak french in a dimly lit sexy jazz club in the 1920s then I think I’d have a similar mouth feel. The texture is beautiful. A darkening caramel and lovely oaky spice nudges its way in with a development of ash and stoney-granitic pebbles. The fruits of apple and banana-pineapple adopt the BBQ char and saltiness of bacon ends. The medicinal-iodine transfers to the edges of the palate. Black pepper builds through the entire profile. F: Long. Black pepper becomes a very prominent red chilli catch. Caramelised banana and pineapple are remnants of sweetness and the smoke fades to ash and briny embers. A couple of drops of water don’t do too much additive good, if anything the nose is muted and some nasal aggression makes its self known in the form of a generic burn, perhaps the minerality opens up though. The palate again is muted, this isn’t necessarily Talisker anymore its thin, the silky satisfaction has left me and I would be hard pushed to find any real character. This is no longer sexy, rather I’m now speaking Dutch (Babel says its the least sexy language - I don’t mean to offend anyone!). The finish with water is ashy and smoky. Well. There that is. I found a rum cask I can get behind. This is fantastic, blow off the powerful opening gambit and what is left is a craft strength powerhouse of texture and nuance with no real notion of the ABV beast within. Pass on the water and buckle in for a building chilli driven crescendo. Is the chilli a little out of balance by the end, perhaps, mais peu importe, je parle maintenant Français. This is now my yard stick to measure all other rum casks by. Touche Talisker, Touche. Distiller whisky taste #262 [Pictured here with an emerald-biotite schist from Western Australia. It’s late and I want to go to bed. The rock is old as buggery, the emeralds are green and pretty. Rocks are awesome.] Talisker running scores: T10: 4/5 T18: 4.75/5 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 T8 2018 Special Release: 4.5/5 T15 2019 Special Release: 3.5/5 T8 2020 Special Release: 4.25/5 T8 2021 Special Release: 4.5/5