Talisker 18

[DaveM]

Has anyone done a side-by-side tasting of the Talisker 10yr. to the 18yr., 45.8%? Specifically in reference to the 18yr as I'm quite familiar with the 10. Your impressions and comments are welcome. Thanks

[Laphroaig]

The 18 I tasted is almost in a slumber compared to the 10. While it was elegant and I can see some viewing it as more easily approached... more or less there seemed to likewise be a certain amount of dissapointment I noticed from a few Tali die-hards.

In my view it's a good dram. The problem is if you've been living off the 10, the 18 could appear somewhat spineless. To me it has some complexity that takes patience. Those that find the power and fire of the 10 to be the most favorable apsect of its complexity may be underwhelmed with 18.

[bamber]

I would have to respectfully disagree with Laphroaig on this one:

http://www.whiskymag.com/forum/viewtopi ... ght=#11284

The old Talisker 10YO was great, but the new version has less power than their new 18YO OB IMHO.

[Admiral]

I echo Bamber's sentiments.

Laphroaig....have you purchased and tasted a bottle of Talisker 10 recently? It is a very different whisky to the Talisker we all knew and loved.

The general consensus amongst most drinkers now seems to be, "If you want to remember what Talisker really tastes like, try the 18yo!"

Cheers,
Admiral

[hpulley]

Note that we still have old grey boxes of Talisker 10yo here. I don't know if they're any good but we have them on the shelves beside the new blue boxes.

Harry

[Lawrence]

I drank quite a bit of the Talisker 18 last night and found it to be a well balanced dram with a wonderful soft mouth feel and shades less of the peat and lava. All in all a great dram.

[islayjunkie]

The general consensus amongst most drinkers now seems to be, "If you want to remember what Talisker really tastes like, try the 18yo!"

Better yet the 20yo '81

I may be wrong however this is the most intense damn dram I've had second to one other. An amplified expression of the 10yo I had in 1994-5. I rank it as my 3rd favorite whisky... not that I've had that many.

The current 10yo Talisker is a watered down sweetened version of past expressions...and where's the pepper

Dammit! I just killed my last 1/2 dram of 20yo...

[islayjunkie]

Note that we still have old grey boxes of Talisker 10yo here. I don't know if they're any good but we have them on the shelves beside the new blue boxes.

Harry

Can you hold a few for me

[Deactivated Member]

Note that we still have old grey boxes of Talisker 10yo here. I don't know if they're any good but we have them on the shelves beside the new blue boxes.

Harry

I'm not at all sure that the content change was concurrent with the packaging change--comments, anyone?

[Lawrence]

In this part of the world we are just now receiving the new packaging and we have been discussing the change for quite a while now. Also take into account that for a while Talisker 10 was actually a 13 year old because they could not find enough quality casks of the 10. This would account for the a small change in the flavour profile.

[Laphroaig]

Hmmm I haven't kept up with this thread - not realizing I had been summoned...

Honestly the last bottles of Talisker 10 I bought were in late 2002 maybe beginning of 2003 and I can't honestly say that those were fresh off the truck on the shelf at that time either. In short no, I haven't had any recent purchases of the 10 (from my own possession) although I have drunk it on several occassions at a local cigar club recently and would have assumed that their stock is more current than mine.

Needless to say... you gents are scaring me here! I tried to order about 6 months ago and the distributor was out of stock. Since then I never got around to it again, as too many other things were coming out that diverted my ability to restock.

[philbert]

Let's put it this way, the best I was able to do was a 2 weeks later comparison.

Can't get into much detail, but the context is significant.

My previous T10 experience a year or so ago was the classic and formidable 'swimming in a kelpy sea behind a burning oil tanker' kind of experience.

Months passed and many other different single malts came and went until I happed upon a T18.

I would say that I really enjoyed the T18 as an everyday dram -- which the old T10 to me was not, due to its untrammeled ferocity.
The T18 seemed almost a smoother, more complex, andmore approachable version. And maybe much more capable of burning a hole in your pocket too, since it seemed to fit many more moods, and thus became a favorite.

Well 'my guy' sold out of T18. But just this evening I went to a store I have never visited before and found the latest T10.

Let me go pour another dram, just to make sure....

Well, the first slug of T10 always used to be a 'bracer.'

IN comparison this T10 is like getting hit by a middleweight rather than a heavy weight.

The bar where I used to buy T10 regularly, of course used snifters.

At home I normally prefer a heavy Macallan tumbler. However, the tumbler doesn't capture the nose properly. With this second dram I've pulled out the snifter and that helps the nose.

For me, it's not quite as pungent, powerful or deep as the older T10, but it's still a treat. Others have said a little bit watery, and that was also an impression I shared. But still others might say the new 10 is more like the new 18 -- more approachable.

It does have a good long aftertaste which will not leave you unawares of what you imbibed a half-hour ago. Yes, it is unmistakeable in that regard -- a little cigar, peat, smoke.

As such it would probably leave devotees of the older T10 scratching their heads and feeling a tad orphaned.

Hey, the same thing just happened to me with the latest expression of Glendronach 15 and Highland Park 12.

Or maybe my tastebuds have hardened over the last year. Hmmmm.

Bottom line, I still like it, and have the sense that it will take on the role of 'ace of the staff,' (baseball analogy for non-englishspeakers) leading the others in the current pitching rotation (Laphroaig 10CS, Oban 14, Macallan 12, Glendronach 15)

[Deactivated Member]

Bottom line, I still like it, and have the sense that it will take on the role of 'ace of the staff,' (baseball analogy for non-englishspeakers) leading the others in the current pitching rotation (Laphroaig 10CS, Oban 14, Macallan 12, Glendronach 15)

Perhaps you would like to rephrase that as "non-Murkan speakers".

I have spent the past seven Octobers in the UK, where the locals like to poke fun of my efforts to get the baseball playoff scores. "Baseball?" they say. "You mean Rounders? Girlie sport, i'nit?" "Sure," I answer, "the way you play it."

[philbert]

Y're right,

As a baseball loving ex-Sassenach who lives in 'Murka, it's no surprise I still confuse english and 'murkan.

Good thing we all speak the same language: lagavulin, ardbeg, macallan, oban, clynelish, etc.

[DaveM]

Well, I'm bumping this to the top as llast night I did a good side by side of:

Talisker 18
Ardbeg 17
Bowmore 12

(finished with a desert of a selection of US whiskeys)

I was delighted with the Talisker. I had bought it a few months ago and dabbled with it, nervous to do a side by side with similar malts.

The mouthfeel and finish impressed me and I think it's moved into my top 5.

[Deactivated Member]

Perhaps the widely-noticed drop in Talisker's...Taliskerness...was the result of a temporary supply bottleneck of good and older casks. If, as Christian believes, Talisker's sting comes from the tannins imparted by the barrel, it just might be that there wasn't enough of it to go around, and Diageo had to stretch it a bit (an option they haven't really had with Lagavulin). If the problem has indeed been licked, that's good news for all us Taliskerophiles. I'll make it a point to see what's on the bars of Scotland in a couple months.

Taliskerness? Taliskerosity? Taliskerity?

[Admiral]

Taliskocity.

(Pronounced 'Tallis-scossity')

[WestVanDave]

Taliskisciousness???

Taliskerization???

Tallaskander???

... 'Let's all try getting "Taliskered" tonight and then post some more...

Tally forth... Tally ho... oh, never mind.


Cheers, Dave.

[Deactivated Member]

Taliskicity? Taliskition?

[Lawrence]

Tally Ho, Taliban (sorry). I think, as Dave suggested that Taliskisciousness might be the one.

[WestVanDave]

Thanks Lawrence - I kinda like the cadence of Taliskisciousness... but then there's always:

Talicalifragilistickexpealidocious...

... even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious...

Cheers, Dave.