I'm in a new, smoky scotch kind of mood tonight so I busted open my Talisker Distiller's Edition from 2014. It's a precocious pre-teen 11 year old and was "Double Matured" in Amoroso sherry casks. It was bottled at a rather robust 91.6 proof. It's 3am here on the east coast and my insomnia is daring me to "bring it". On the nose there's a nice stone fruit sweetness that's masking the peaty smoke and brine. A hint of dark cherry leads into a hit of lively oak barrel. To a bit of a surprise there's an odd smell that triggers the memories of the cherry NyQuil I was chugging last week as I tried to get over a head cold. As I take that first sip I get a nice rush of cherries and dark, bitter chocolate. Before I can really savor it the overwhelming wash of oak and heat from the alcohol rinse all the sweetness away. Too quickly, I might add. Dammit. The sea salt and peat comes on fast and a bit harsh IMO. This Talisker is really "in your face" and out to make a statement, I think. I guess I expected the DE variation to be a mellow, restrained example of the 10 year old but this really demands all of your senses and attention. There's not a damn thing wrong with that, but to say I wasn't expecting that is an understatement. I don't know how to rate this right now so I'm gonna go middle of the road and come back to it when my head is right. Lol. Cheers.