An excellent malt with lots of style and character

Talisker™ is one of my favorite single malt scotches!!!  I came to this much sought-after single malt through allot of years of drinking blended scotch whiskeys like Johnnie Walker Black.  However, one has to work their way up to this smoky taste.  Among single malt scotch aficionados, Talisker™ is known for its moderate peat-smoke flavor that's typical of Isle of Skye - but also offering a dryness that turns it into a truly interesting drink.  It became one of my favorites because I usually smoke cigars when I am drinking scotch.  I have found that very few single malts can be tasted through cigar smoke on the palate; certainly none of the “Highland” scotches can stand up to a cigar!    Most important, a single malt aficionado drinks single malt scotch whiskey with only 3 to 4 drops of water per shot.  No ice or mixers!

Talisker ™ is most often described as “The colour is gold with amber glint. The superb and fresh nose is rich, peaty, spicy and detects marine hints.  The palate confirms the nose, with some salted hints.  The finish is deceiving, and becomes rapidly dryish with smoke notes.”  Robert Louis Stevenson, the famous writer wrote in one of his poems "The king o' drinks, as I conceive it,Talisker, Islay or Glenlivet".

How does Talisker™ come by its unique flavor?  According to their web site: “On the shores of Loch Harport, the village of Carbost is home to Skye’s only distillery producing a wonderful award-winning Island malt bottled at above average strength. Talisker's™ soft, peaty process water is drawn from twenty-one underground springs that rise from Hawk Hill (Cnoc nan Speirag) beside the distillery. These same springs have fed Talisker from the beginning.”

“Faithfully following the original design, it is believed that this double distillation ensures that all of Talisker’s™ rich, deep character is captured first time. So there is, indeed, nothing withdrawn or reserved about Talisker™.   Talisker™ embodies all the spirit of this rocky, storm-lashed island and its strong, steadfast people. Skye's only distillery this may be, but like the men of the island the malt has character enough for ten.

 “A rich dried-fruit sweetness with clouds of smoke and strong barley-malt flavours, warming and intense. At the back of the mouth is an explosion of pepper.”

I suggest that if you are serious about trying single malt scotches, you do it by tasting “THE SIX CLASSIC MALTS OF SCOTLAND” of United Distillers. They are particularly selected to best represent each of the malt whiskey producing regions of Scotland.  They embrace the full diversity of regional tastes and styles.