Soba45
Talisker 30 Year
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed
November 29, 2019 (edited October 26, 2020)
Whilst I agree with the taste descriptors RM outlined I'm more in alignment with scotch harding's scoring. It has the same issue the bottle of 18 I tried has too hot and harsh. I've tried the 25 twice, once was average and overwooded and once was very good so it seems once again there maybe variation in the top end of the Talisker range. Whilst I have a preference generally for younger Islays or best of all blends of young and old stock I still appreciate the exquisite quality of say the Laphroaig 18 or 25. The older Taliskers I've tried mostly don't even have that. They seem all over the place. I thought initially it was a sample vs bottle thing but I drank a whole bottle of the 18 and it didn't improve. It seems the older dated bottles were a lot higher rated on average... hopefully not another scotch distillery going down the toilet. Hopefully your bottle is a better one @1901!
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@Whiskey_Hound Oh and the 10 yr was almost mine until I had the CS strength 8 year. That was an awesome drop
@Whiskey_Hound Yeah others have raved about it so your always going to get the odd blip. A lot of people had issues with the 25 over 2017/2018 apparently.
Nice review! Talisker 10 is one of my absolute pound-for-pound favorites, so this is quite disappointing. Like you say, hopefully it's a matter of variation and not the sign of a decline
@1901 Yeah it maybe a mix of my preferences and batch variation. I thought the former but then the two 25 year olds I had were like night and day and others had issues with similar batches. Hopefully yours is a good one!
Nice review. Before I tasted my sample of Talisker 18 I remember you helped dampen my expectations. I thought it wonderful, so maybe our palates differ slightly for the older tallies. 3.75 is still a good score so here's hoping! I got my 30yo as a present from my in laws and they have asked several times whether I've opened it yet. They are over this Christmas so I probably will crack it open then. First World problems eh!