The final bonus sample from this current round of the SDT is from everyone’s favorite Island distillery, Talisker. 57° North is a travel retail exclusive. Not only does the 57 refer to the strength of the whisky, but also the distillery’s global coordinates (which happens to be Lat 57° 17’.9N, Long 06° 21’.5 W). Bottled at 57% ABV and is most likely natural color of honey gold and I can confirm that it is non chill filtered. The nose is pepper and peat smoke, although the latter is somewhat restrained. Slightly medical. Malty/cereal, herbal and floral. BBQ meats, mostly chicken and maybe some hamburger, both of which are over cooked and dried out. Earthy and vegetal (more peat). Honey, lemon, dried apricots and grilled oranges. Balanced oak, faint mint, fennel or maybe licorice. Olive brine/salty, lemon custard and vanilla sweetness. With water there is more honey and grilled fruits, hay and chalkiness. It becomes chalky pretty quick. The palate is sweet up front but the signature Talisker pepper quickly takes control and overpowers any sweetness that was there. Not much peat or smoke at first, but it does build a bit. Ashes and barrel char, salty. Water brings out honey and citrus in the form of lemons and pineapple. A medium-full bodied mouthfeel that is semi-dry and mouth coating. The finish is medium length, dry, slightly nutty with plenty of pepper, oak and a puff of smoke. The opposite of the 18 year old. Instead of elegant and refined, it’s a battering ram of pepper and spice. This is definitely a young whisky. Based on the high ABV and lack of real depth this is more than apparent. It’s main attribute is its brute force and ability to assault your senses (in a good way). Not much water needed, if any, to enjoy this one. Still, I would take the iconic 10 year old over this one any day of the week. I’d take the Storm/Dark Storm too. At $95 it’s not a great bargain either, considering the Dark Storm is about $30 less and they are both TREs (no tax since I got them at duty free) and both are 1L bottles. Yes the 57 gives you an extra 11.2% ABV, but in my opinion the trade off isn’t worth the money. Having said all that, this is still a solid 4 star single malt. Cheers