ScotchingHard
Talisker Distillers Edition
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed
March 1, 2019 (edited June 4, 2021)
Bottle killed on (the wee hours) of 3/1/19.
Talisker OB
Distiller's Edition
Distilled 2000
Bottled 2011
45.8% ABV
Price: 76 USD. I have one more bottle I bought for same price.
My opinions on the Diageo's Distiller's Edition is that this is the only one that takes a good whisky and made it better. The only DE that matches this in quality is Lagavulin DE, but Lagavulin 16 is a great whisky, and better than its DE counterpart. Talisker 10 is a good whisky, but this DE is just ever so slightly better. Also, if you have the option of buying older DEs, go older. These fancy casks just seem to be spread thinner and thinner as Scotch becomes more popular, and wood finishes are taking on more and more shortcuts.
This sherry finish is well integrated deeply into the Talisker 10 maritime soul, and it offers more than just a sugarcoat. There's peaches and figs with that seaspray and iodine. You are bringing some non-native fruits and flowers to the harsh Skye coastline. Made by the sea meets made by the garden in surprising harmony. The only gripe is with the finish. Talisker 10, on account of being less sweet, ends with a nice seeweed umami. This DE ends with oaky astringency.
This is a brown bottle that looks better than the new design. I've had the newer (blue) DEs, and I can't say they're much worse. This is still a good buy, regardless of year, if you can find it in the $70-80 range.
Rating (price not factored): 89 / 100
Purchase satisfaction (price factored): 4 / 5
76.0
USD
per
Bottle
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Also worth throwing out there that this is the perfect dram to have with your Burns Night haggis. The smoky-sweet, salty, peppery flavors are a slam dunk with haggis.
I would imagine bottle killing in wee hours adds an automatic 1/2 star 😀