Question for Talisker lovers?

by **Lord_Pfaffin** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 8:04 am

After having read about the peppery finish of a typical Tali, i have been reluctant to give ém a try, as i am easily put-off by pepperiness especially lower palate and accompanied by spiritiness. So please tell me where and how intense does this so called peperiness manifest itself? I know that Springbank is a great malt however i was put-off by the new 10yr old's peppery, spiritiness as well as it's high price for a 10. Tali seems more reasonably priced for a 10 and is about the only one readily available here'bouts. I rather like pepperiness tongue and mid-palate with long, chewy smokey finishes. Tali sounds like it may be suited to my palate and i will of course try it sooner or later. After-all aren't orchids Greek testicles? :shock:

Witch shall it be, sooner or later?
Ardaíonn ár ngrá muid féin níos airde de shior!

by **JimHall** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 12:01 pm

Lord P

Personally I don't find it too peppery I find it more kippery especially on the nose. The peaty finish is agruably unrivalled. Just buy some try it and be sure to put your feed back where it matters.... on this forum.

by **Tom** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 3:01 pm

Dont worry,
Talisker isnt peppery anymore. The new bottlings are sweeter, less peaty and all the pepper is gone. Only a few spirity spices remain.

by **Lawrence** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 4:53 pm

Yup, that's true, the pepper is gone.

by **rthomson** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 5:12 pm

[quote="Lord_Pfaffin"] After-all aren't orchids Greek testicles? :shock:

quote]

I hadn't heard that expression before

and had to look it up. The first link returned was for a site detailing the derivation of the word for a disorder (cryptorchidism) in some breeds of dogs- I didn't want to look any further than that (but I think I got the meaning). I'll have to use some discretion with where I use this newly learned phrase. :wink:

Oh yeah, sooner would be better.

Ron

by **Lord_Pfaffin** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 9:50 pm

Argh! All gone you say. Well then, what was it like? Sounds like it was a sad passing and that the fans are chagrinned.
Ron:
The english word "orchid" is derived from the greek word for "testicle".
Ardaíonn ár ngrá muid féin níos airde de shior!

by **Admiral** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 12:22 am

Lord P,

The change in Talisker was discussed at length in a thread called something along the lines of "Talisker: Sweet, and where is the pepper?" The thread was active in about October last year.

If you want to taste the real Talisker, try the 18yo.

Cheers,
Admiral

by **Lord_Pfaffin** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 2:40 am

This Talisker 10yr old is a fine dram, however first impressions was that the "9 rating" by both Jackson and Broom must have been the review for the old version. A nice sweet though, Admiral. I think a nicer sweetness than the Bowmore or Laddie, not as big with the spiciness offseting and balancing. Surprised by the smoothness of this 46%abv. whisky. With the finish not so dry at first, some pepperiness on the toungue would be a desirable asset no doubt. I guess that i'll hafta try the 18yr old. Well overall a very nice 10yr old, at $65cdn i'd say well worth it.
Ardaíonn ár ngrá muid féin níos airde de shior!

by **Frodo** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 6:03 am

Lord_Pfaffin wrote:I guess that i'll hafta try the 18yr old. Well overall a very nice 10yr old, at $65cdn i'd say well worth it.
Ardaíonn ár ngrá muid féin níos airde de shior!

The LCBO doesn't have the 18yr old. It does have the 20yr old CS for C$200. Now I was tempted as this might be the last of the famous pepper attack, but considering that I got the 24yr Port Ellen CS for C$250, I wonder about this price. Also, the 20yr old Bruichladdich is going for C$200 down from C$250. Given the choice between the 'laddie and the Talisker... I dunno. Mind you, I don't have that kind of money anyway.

Thank you LCBO tasting tower for letting me try real good hooch at reasonable prices

.

Frodo

by **Lawrence** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:29 am

Frodo, there's no stocks of the OB Talisker 18 in Ontario? We have it here and it's only C$95 which is amazing considering that's about $18 more the the regular 10.

by **Frodo** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 7:32 am

I think you lucked out on that one. From your description of prices in your neck of the woods, this one may be worth jumping on.

Frodo

P.S. Let me know if you're coming to Toronto any time soon. For that price I'd be curious about a bottle or two...

by **Lawrence** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 4:54 pm

Hi Froda, I'll look around this week and see if I can find a bottle for you, we'll figure out delivery later.

Lawrence

by **andrewfenton** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 5:06 pm

Anyone tried the Talisker 1990 DE? Seems to get good reviews, so I'm tempted to get a bottle.

by **Lord_Pfaffin** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 11:01 pm

Frodo:
I do see another Talisker available in our area, a Distillers Edition, 750 ml bottle 45.8%abv. @ $91cdn., ref#503078.Tasting Note (from the store): Bright medium-aber colour. Vanilla, malt and smoke aromas. Full-bodied with a creamy palate and a long, smoky finish. I wonder if that's the 1990 that andrewfenton was eyeballing? I am sure that any other info on this DE would be appreciated; thankyou.
Might be able to have a store rep help get some Tali 18 on the shelves. Never know 'til you ask.

by **andrewfenton** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 11:11 pm

That's the one - the Distiller's Edition is basically a Talisker with an amoroso finish, some labelled as 13yr old, some without an age statement. I've seen them from 1986-1991, and according to reviews the 1990 is the one to get.

by **Admiral** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:34 am

I can confirm that comment.....the 1990 is one of the best Talisker DE's in quite a while.

Cheers,
Admiral

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:17 am

I concur that the 18 will give you a hint of what the old 10 was like. I would rave once again about the CS I'm enjoying, but it would be unseemly given that none of you can get the stuff.

Geez, Frodo, had I known, I could have brought you an 18 last week.

by **Lord_Pfaffin** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:54 am

Tattie:
The three of us could've hooked-up for a drink and i know just the place. Has 450 malts on hand and the owner is quite a character and a class act. You'd be impressed.

by **hpulley** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 12:07 pm

The Feathers Pub?

by **Lord_Pfaffin** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:14 pm

Yeah, thats it, "The Feathers". Shame it's not close to the subway.

by **hpulley** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 7:20 pm

Yeah, shame as it isn't a place to which I should be driving...

Harry

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 9:22 pm

Hopefully on another occasion, LP. I had very little free time on this trip and almost had to cancel on Frodo as it was. Glad I didn't have to. Unfortunately, I don't get to Tronna as much as I used to, but you never know in my business. (And I've only driven through Guelph once in my life.)

Maybe someday we can arrange a T.O. summit, as the Londoners are doing.

by **andrewfenton** » Mon Apr 11, 2005 9:24 pm

Thanks, will get the 1990 DE on my next order :-)

by **Lawrence** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 10:05 pm

Harry & Frodo if you want Talisker 18 please let me know, I have some bottles on hold. Any other poor Toronto souls who want some of this bottling, let me know.

Lawrence

by **Frodo** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:43 am

Talisker 18 for C$95? For sure I'd like one! The problem is how to get it down here.

As an aside, what I'd really go for is a SMWS bottling of something interesting such as Caol Ila, Bladnoch, or Mortlach. That is, if you're offering...

Greedy Frodo

by **Lord_Pfaffin** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:02 am

Initially i didn't quite know what to do with the Tali 10. I was impressed with its big taste but more overwelmed with that and the abv that i added water. That made it taste like Green Spot with attitude. I though that rather clever; watering down a $65/bottle whisky to find it tastier than an $80/bottle of whiskey. I suspected that i might be experiencing the "Malt Barrier", where it takes some time to warm-up to some of those tasty congeners; breaking through it is almost like a dust-up with a stranger who becomes a good friend afterwards.
Revisiting the Tali 10, the other evening, after priming with a Tamdhu then Highland Park, seemed to be extremely appealing. The malt beckoned me to draught deeper for more of the essence, flavor and finish. I had thought that the pleasant change might be due to the priming however without any this evening i am again finding it just wonderful and i realize now without question i am well on my way to being a Talisker lover.

by **Old Bollard** » Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:05 am

Talisker is a good thing to love.... :wink:

I agree it has lost a bit of its former pepperiness, but by all means; it's still a VERY good dram, if not one of the best out there.

Slainte

Old Bollard

Question for Talisker lovers?

Question for Talisker lovers?

Re: Question for Talisker lovers?