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28th January 2014 |
The smoke and
pepper make a more subtle approach
enveloped in rich sweet heather honey
and it slowly caresses the palate.
 As
you probably read here at
the end of last year Diageo announced
the release of a new series of five limited
edition single malt Scotch Whiskies
available exclusively to their ever
expanding online community of Scotch
single malt whisky drinkers, Friends of
the Classic Malts.
The five different single malts which are set to be
released at intervals over the next 6
months, throughout UK, Germany and
Switzerland. This Talisker Friends of
the Classic Malts Limited Edition is one
of the first two bottlings released. The
other being from
Royal Lochnagar
What is different about this limited release
is that it has been been matured in a
totally different way from the Classic
Malts bottlings which we are familiar
with and also different
from the Distillers Editions.
The
Talisker Friends of the Classic Malts
was triple matured. Its initial
maturation was in conventional refill
casks then it was transferred to charred
American oak hogsheads which would
impart some spice and a touch of sweet
oak. Finally the whisky enjoyed a third
maturation in European Oak refill casks
which softened, mellowed and integrated
the aromas and flavours. The whisky was then
bottled at 48% ABV.
Only 9,000 bottles of the Talisker
Friends of the Classic Malts are available via
online whisky shops or at the
distillery.
William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
A little shy at first but patience pays
off, mild honey and salted butter and
right behind that is some lovely mild
earthy peat smoke and pepper.
Taste:
Rich sweet heather honey with a lovely
light coating of peat and mild pepper.
Mature oak, some orange peel.
Finish:
Long, lingering mature sweet oak, touch
of mild spice, mild smoke and pepper,
marzipan.
Comment:
I have always been a big Talisker fan so
I always look forward to trying a new
Talisker expression. Due to my recent
schedule I didn't have the time to sit
down and spend time with this new
expression when it first appeared on my desk.
So before I
got the chance to taste this a friend told
me of some
reviews he had read which were
not so great, so I didn't have high
hopes.
Once I tasted it
I have to say I wasn't in the slightest
bit disappointed in the Talisker Friends
of the Classic Malts, in fact the quite
the
opposite.
This is certainly a different Talisker
than the likes of the 10 year old we all
know and love, no big peaty, smoky,
peppery explosion on the palate here,
instead the smoke and pepper make a more
subtle approach enveloped in rich sweet
heather honey and it slowly caresses the
palate. If I had tasted it blind I may
have guessed that it
may have originated from another island
distillery, it isn't too dissimilar to
a very highly rated mature/aged Highland Park.
I would
guess that there is either a good portion of
mature Talisker in the mix or some very
skilful cask selection and blending has been at work here, the Talisker
sweet smoke and pepper has been rounded
by the combination of casks and the
Talisker unique spiciness although a
little tamed here gives us
another great expression of this iconic
malt whisky to pleasure us.
I am not
keen on the no age statement and big
price tag trend that is now becoming
common but I would say in this case this is no young
whisky.
I would suggest that those who prefer the
more in you face smoky,
peppery notes usually found in Talisker
may not rate this as highly as myself,
but I thought it was another great
quality expression form the Isle of
Skye.
If the nose wasn't so shy then the score
would have been higher.
SMW Score
88/100
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