This review is for a bottle from 2011. For both my wife and I, this is our all-time “go-back-to” whisky. Even though the recent bottle that was just finished is an older bottling, newer bottlings are just as good. I can attest as I will frequently order a dram of the familiar and always dependable Talisker 10 at restaurants, shunning the new Macallan unicorn jizz cask that I’ve never tried before. Talisker 10, unlike unicorn jizz, is always satisfying. This is a moderately smoky whisky with a maritime lean. You get seaweed, seaspray, shellfish. This is also notoriously spicy with a white pepper kick mixed with traditional Chinese medicine herbs and spices. These bold defining characteristics are lovingly balanced with typical bourbon and sherry influences. This one is a comfort dram that is surprisingly accessible to the masses. I was pleasantly surprised at how popular this was when I decided to bring a bottle of this to a Halloween party; notably, even women who proclaimed how much they hated smoky scotches, loved this whisky. To be sure, this is not a peat bomb, but it unapologetically includes smoke in its flavor profile. Yet, it seems to draw in those uninitiated to the wonderful world of peat. This should be no surprise because Talisker 10 was the one of my first favorable experiences with a peaty whisky after I felt Laphroaig 10 was a little too extreme. Talisker 10 set me up for the knockout punch that was Lagavulin 16, which was my moment of conception as far as Scotch whisky is concerned. Yet, on a cold, rainy, miserable day, when given a choice between Tali 10 and Laga 16, I am more often reaching for my ultimate staple, Talisker 10. The only knock against the Talisker 10 is that sometimes it tastes too young, and it does not do well with oxidation. However, I tried Talisker 10 in a blind tasting with 7 other whiskies from Talisker and Caol Ila. Guess what whisky I gave the same score to? Talisker 18! (In case you’re interested, the winner of the tasting, and what I thought was the Talisker 18, turned out to be Caol Ila 25.) Diageo should consider releasing at Talisker 15, which might be a perfect compromise between the youthful boldness of the 10 and the softness of the 18. Score: * (unforgettable) How much does a bottle cost: $45-60 How much do I think a bottle is worth: $60