About Talisker 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky
After the barley has been mashed, it is fermented in the distillery’s wooden washbacks before being twice distilled through Talisker’s copper-pot stills. The stills are equipped with unique swan-shaped lye pipes and worm tubs. As a result of this configuration, a portion of the vapor during distillation condenses before reaching the cooler, and runs back into the still for redistillation. This process gives Talisker Single Malt Whisky its signature, full-bodied flavor profile.
Following distillation, Talisker 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky is matured in traditional oak casks for a minimum of 18 years. As a result, the whisky has a bold aroma, with notes of toffee, espresso, maple syrup and peat smoke. The aroma gives way to notes of honeyed nuts, orange zest, citrus and rock candy, and leads to a finish accented by hints of tobacco and leather.
Talisker 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky earned a score of 93 points from Whisky Advocate and 90-95 points from Wine Enthusiast. It was also rated the “Best Whisky in the World” at the World Whiskies Awards in 2007.
“Making Talisker demands long hours and no compromises, so I tour the distillery several times a day making sure no part of the process betrays the rest,” says Lochhead.
Try an uncompromising whisky today!
About Talisker
Situated on the shores of Loch Harport, Talisker Distillery is heavily influenced by its location on the Isle of Skye — it embodies the spirit of the rocky, storm-lashed island and its strong, steadfast people. The distillery was founded in 1830 by Hugh and Kenneth MacAskill, who leased the Talisker House from Clan MacLeod and eventually converted it into a distillery. When a new lease for the distillery was negotiated between the MacAskills and Clan MacLeod in the second half of the 19th century, the annual rent settled upon was £23.12 and a ten-gallon cask of the best Talisker Whisky available.
Talisker Single Malt Whisky is made from malted barley sourced from the Muir of Ord, a village in Highland, Scotland. The barley is lightly peated to approximately 18 phenol parts per million, which contributes a slightly smoky flavor profile to the whisky. Once the barley has been malted and peated, it is mashed using soft water drawn from one of the 14 underground springs that rise from Hawk Hill — Talisker has been using the same water source since it was founded nearly two centuries ago. “I’m restless at heart so you’ll find me poking my nose into the mash tun at all hours,” says Mark Lochhead, Talisker’s distillery manager.
About Scotch
Scotch is the most popular whisky in the world and is considered the king of them all! There are five whisky regions in Scotland (six if you count the not officially recognized Islands), and each of them produces spirits with unique properties and distinct tasting notes. (The type of grain used determents the type of the scotch.)
Malt whisky is made of malted barley, and grain whisky uses other grains like corn or wheat. Most of the time, a whisky is blended from different distilleries hence the name blended scotch, but if a malt whisky is produced in a single distillery, we get something extraordinary called a single malt.
Ted –
As Bob suggests, the first reviewer either somehow got a bad bottle or is on something. Talisker 18 is a must for a serious Scotch Whisky collection, and it’s a favorite of mine. It’s more poetic than a list of tasting notes–though the edge of peaty smoke, the sea salt, fruity undertones, and Talisker’s signature pepper (worn mild with enriching time) are all there.
But it’s the essence of the first warm morning in spring when the storms of winter have stopped breaking over the rocky seashore. It’s the rocks the waves can’t break, the crisp air that remembers the gale that saturated the wind with rain and sea salt but now has made peace with the sunlight. It’s the old friend stepping off a boat. It doesn’t beg for your attention because it knows what it is. It waits for the wise and the intrepid to sit still and let it work its magic.