OB 20yo 1981 62% Sherry casks - Talisker

[M.R.J.]

Talisker 20yo 1981 - 2002, sherry-matured, 62%, Original Distillery Bottling.

Nose: Leathery, sherry-ripeness and fruit, spicy with a hint of pepper.

Taste: Without water -despite of high alcohol percentage, please do yourselves a favour and take a rather modest sip of this whisky without water..it goes down like pure nectar, sweet and beautiful! Some raspberry-notes, then Talisker's trademark pepper, touch of allspice? Sherrynotes are left to wallow on the palate with peat. Added water almost spoils the nectar-honey sweetness, but increases flavour-sensations: Dried dark fruits, Corinth raisin, leathery, peaty aromas - and the spicy pepperiness.

Aftertaste: Quite long and somewhat fruity, not too dry (much less so than for example in the Lagavulin 21yo sherrymatured).

Comments: Sherry may have dampened down a tad the distillery character, but it is still definitely there. For what the sherry may have taken, it gives fantastic new dimension to Talisker: This is almost perfect sherrymaturation, not too fruity and sweet, and not too woody and dry. What a fabulous whisky, no wonder many have enjoyed this one.

[TheTross]

Nose: Good amount of sherry with very little sulphur to speak of - perhaps a faint touch of burnt matchstick. A touch oaky. Mint (spearmint?), cream and hints of vanilla. Pepper. A little wood polish? A slight farminess. Lightly peated. Amazingly soft for its strength. Gentle notes of salted liquorice, chocolate-orange and marzipan. Tabasco-like pepper. A little honeyed and lemony, with various exotic fruits also present. Very well integrated. Time allows the chocolate-orange notes to develop. Water makes it more creamy but brings out a slightly rubbery character.

Palate: Lots of sherry, again with just a touch of burnt matchstick. Pretty dry and hot at full strength. Quite creamy and peaty. Liquorice. The typical Talisker pepper is here in abundance! Slight oakiness. Quite fruity as well, with lemon coming to the fore. Adding water makes it much cooler and easier to hold in the mouth, which enables the pepper to really come through but creates a small amount of rubber again.

Finish: Big and fairly dry, with sherry and lots of pepper initially that give way to subtle notes of mint, peat, cream and oak. Very slight sulphury notes (burnt matchstick once again) develop at the end, along with some lemon. Water brings out more cream and makes it much less dry but virtually destroys the pepper, leaving just a hint right at the end.


This whisky is, in a word, sensational. Incredibly soft despite its strength, with the typical Talisker character being very much in evidence throughout. The nose is so complex that I picked out something new everytime I revisited it. It's not one for the faint hearted though, as the pepper on both palate and finish is stupendous. One of my all-time favourites and it'll be sorely missed now it's gone.