Soba45
Talisker 25 Year
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed
June 27, 2017 (edited April 21, 2018)
The review on One Man's Malt site sums it up very nicely for me I reckon. To paraphrase from my viewpoint: firey pepper, lemon, orange, lemon, grapefruit, woody bitterness. Missing the richness of the 10, which means unlike its younger brother not one you want to swirl round and round your mouth. Feels like it's been in wood a bit to long imparting quite a more intense bitter dryness. Hard to rate this one especially as I've found with Taliskers' you often need a bottle to open up over time to get the most of it which a sample doesn't give you. The rating of the 10 year for me shot up from 1st to 2nd tasting (a week later). I have to rate on what I've got however. It grew on me but I prefer the less than 1/4 of the cost younger brother. 3.25 rating and at nearly $300USD a bottle its not VFM.
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I just want them all. Is that too much to ask?
I hear some guys say the 25 is the weakest link of Talisker, but the 30 picks up the magic.
The rest of the reviews on distiller rate it mostly very well however I'm not the only one not enamoured as a number of reviews online highlight. A number of people who also didn't rate it loved the 18 so that seems universally praised. Still it aligns with my "older isn't often better when it comes to peated whiskies" mantra :-)
What's surprising is that the Talisker 27 has amazing reviews, but one that's 2 years less in age is decent.
The 18 is among the very best whiskies.
Definitely:-). I'd say if you get a chance maybe get a sample as let's say it saved me the cost of ever buying a bottle!
I've been wondering about getting the standard 45.8 for around 300 vs the cask strength at 600. I guess I gotta go big.
Cheers :-). Yes vivacity or lack thereof is a word that also sums up the difference between the 10 and 25 nicely. I'm also a big fan of the 10 - definitely in my top handful of all time irrespective of price. Have a sample if the 18 buried away somewhere so will have to crack that open shortly
I've never tried the 25. I'm a big fan of the 10, and while I thought the 18 was refined and demonstrated great quality and craft, it lacked the chili pepper sensation and some of the general vivacity I like about the 10. Good review. I'm certainly going to at least sample the 25 at some point soon.