The dark side of the Force.

[Laurentius]

On my less than pleasant experience with the Tactical ( Talisker) single cask bottleing I have come to the following conclusion.

In most, if not all, of the older expressions that i have tasted - anything from 20y and older there was always that lurking, in the shadows "dark side" of that particular distillery, something that I could never really place, either in the smell, taste or after-taste, but always somthing that made me want to go back and try and pin down that ellusive element.

So now I think that its these "special" casks, and their spesifc impact on the vatted malts, that bring this dark character to the expression. Its like there is good and bad in all of us, and under different circumstances different elements show up. In my case, i think i have pinned down the Darth Vadar of Talisker, and it lives in this bottel of 23y old OMC Tactical!!

Or maybe i just had one to many this evening...

[bamber]

I tend to think that the longer in the wood, the less contribution the original distillate makes. Hence dodgy old whiskies are the product of over the hill casks in the main.

I suspect that the Talisker was the victim of its upbringing.

[Admiral]

The Tactical bottlings by OMC have definitely been suspect from time to time. I note Jim Murray was very critical of a Tactical bottling (might have been a 20yo?) in the 2004 edition of his bible.

In any bottling of whisky that is greater than 18yo, you always run the risk of getting something that has simply spent too much time in the oak. You'll find the whisky either has little life or sparkle, or it's simply too drying and astringent.

Fortunately, there are some absolute gems out there that make the risk worth it. Some of the best whiskies I've ever tasted were 30+ years, and were an absolute treat for my palate.

(e.g. SMWS Longmorn 36yo, G+M Strathisla 1948, Macallan 1967, SMWS Longmorn 38yo, MacKillops Choice Glen Grant 1966, SMWS Glenfarclas 40yo)

Cheers,
AD