Talisker Dark Storm - 45.8%
Tasting notes:
Appearance: Copper gold, form a thin line which beads before falling as slow, thin legs.
Nose: Soft, oak smoked meats, baked apples, maritime breeze, malted milk biscuits.
Palate: Ashy smoke, red berries, stewed apples, oak spice, honey, lemon and orange citrus and a prickle of chilli and black pepper.
Finish: Lingering honeyed fruit sweetness, bonfire ash, milky coffee, black pepper and nutty oak.
Overall: Talisker Dark Storm was a bottle I used to pick up from Duty Free in the days when I managed to do quite a bit of business travel overseas. It’s been a while since I’d given it a go, so when I saw this at a reasonable price at auction I couldn’t resist the temptation to bid.
I’m delighted to say that it’s as good as I remember it, the smoke is soft but still makes an impression and there is that salty coastal element common to many Talisker bottlings. Add to that a generous amount of sweet fruitiness and nutty oak and you have a very decent whisky. There is also that black pepper note which was such a feature of Talisker 10 character back in the day but now seems to be sadly lacking.
And the final bonus…it’s a 1 litre bottle!
If you would like to know more about Talisker and their whiskies, follow the link to the company website.
