Talisker is a great distillery situated on the Isle of Skye on the north of Scotland which now is linked to Scotland using a new bridge inaugurated in 1995.
Share your thoughts! UPDATE: Read the tasting I run with all the whiskies tasted at Laphroaig Live 2012 but Ardmore at A Wardrobe of Whisky Laphroaig Live 2012 Tasting
Join us online at Laphroaig Live 2012 that this years will be celebrated at Oktoberfest in Germany.
Laphroaig Live will be online at 21:00 EST ( 20:00 UK ) for everyone to join Laphroaig Distillery Manager John Campbell, Master blender Robert Hicks and two great whisky minds as Bernhard Schäfer and Pierre Thiebaut.
You can join them and me on the a worldwide online tasting of:
So don’t forget to set up your phone alarms for one of the biggest whisky events of the year.
Well, I though about just throwing it by the sink but then you won’t be reading this awesome investigation article. I could have throw it in some connoiseurs blind tasting but they would hate me for that.
So I decided to use it to do a better-than-the-original whisky liqueur.
So how do you do a whisky liqueur? It is easy! Just add honey, lots of honey and spices and fruits. Sounds easy? Well, I have to say that my respect for liqueur brands has increased as a direct result of my learnings with this experience. It isn’t so easy.
One of the first things that attracted my focus over Wemyss malts were their awesome names, whiskies like the Hive, Peat Chimney or the extravagant-named single malts can’t be bad. So in one of my whisky raids on The Whisky Exchange I found several miniatures of 8 and 12 years old Wemyss blended malts.
I have been around three weeks without much whisky. First, I got holidays and I have been doing some repairs at home and then I have been out at beach. So no whisky for me during the last 23 days.
That’s quite a record. And also the fact that I have done while on holidays mojitos using gin because all the rum ran out.
By the way, here is a photo of the beach. A must-visit one at Conil de la Frontera.
I wanted to return with something nice and special! So I grabbed my box of samples and voila! I wrongly took the Islay box :) Who of you can say no to a nice peat punch?
So let’s taste the stuff. I just grabbed five drams for my first tasting: three Smokehead single malts and two secret distillery from Islay. One of them with a very nice score from Malt Maniacs.
This dram has a white wine-like color.
Nose (89): more than average. smoke, honey, citrus, wood.
Palate (90): oily. peat, earth, honey, citrus, chocolate.
Finish (89): longer than average. peat, honey, wood.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Smokehead Extra Rare 1l with 89 points over 100.
This dram has a fino-like color.
Nose (89): more than average. smoke, honey, wood, spices, citrus.
Palate (89): powerful, oily. peat, honey, citrus, wood, spices.
Finish (90): longer than average. peat, spices.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Smokehead with 89 points over 100.
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (90): average. honey, floral, candies, peat, wood.
Palate (90): oily. peat, honey, citrus, wood, spices, cocoa.
Finish (89): average. peat, candies.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Smokehead 18 year Extra Black with 90 points over 100.
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (91): more than average. honey, peat, toffee, citrus, spices, vanilla.
Palate (89): oily. peat, honey, citrus, wood, spices, pepper.
Finish (90): longer than average. peat, honey, wood, floral.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Islay Storm with 90 points over 100.
This dram has a cooper-like color.
Nose (90): more than average. nuts, peat, honey, citrus, wood. This sherry aged whisky smells like some of the best Bunna I have had.
Palate (92): powerful, oily. peat, nuts, honey, wood, smoke, spices. Oh my! The cask strength really does the work.
Finish (91): longer than average. peat, honey, nuts.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Breath of Islay 12 Year Old 1999 (Adelphi) with 91 points over 100.Yep, definitively Malt Maniacs know about whisky. Breath of Islay is by far the most solid dram of this flight and a very good whisky on itself,
On the following months I plan to start writing about my tasting sessions instead of just isolated bottles. I think it is more fun for both of us. And it is possible because I finally sorted and classified my samples library. :)
I would love to read what you have been drinking this summer.
This dram has a amber-like color.
Nose (91): average. some toffee, malt, floral, apricot, citrus .
Palate (88): smooth, powerful, oily. honey, floral, wood, vanilla, spices, pepper.
Finish (88): longer than average. honey, wood, floral.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Blair Athol 1995 / Managers' Choice / Sherry Cask Highland Whisky with 89 points over 100.
This dram has a gold-like color.
Nose (91): more than average. honey, fruits, pineapple, citrus, floral, candies. Deliciously sweet fruits there.
Palate (90): dry, powerful. sweet, floral, spices, liquorice, wood, vanilla. Quite dry and floral
Finish (90): average. sweet, spices, floral.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Balblair 1978 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky with 90 points over 100.
This dram has a cooper-like color.
Nose (89): more than average. honey, fruits, cherry, citrus, custard, spices, vanilla.
Palate (87): smooth, powerful, oily. honey, nuts, wood, cocoa, spices, fruits, citrus, floral. Great at first then something strange happens.
Finish (85): average. wood, nuts, spices, sweet.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Auchentoshan 1999 Bourdeaux Cask with 87 points over 100.
This dram has a fino-like color.
Nose (84): more than average. floral, honey, fruits, spices, vanilla.
Palate (89): smooth, powerful, oily. floral, honey, wood, fruits, pears, citrus, wood.
Finish (88): average. honey, floral, citrus, vanilla.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Glencadam 15 Year Old with 87 points over 100.
This dram has a amber-like color.
Nose (86): more than average. honey, malt, vanilla, smoke, citrus. Smells deliciously but then suddenly it just disappears.
Palate (83): smooth, oily. honey, tobacco, citrus, floral, apples, smoke. A bit sharp but lot of sherry character inside.
Finish (80): average. honey, wood, citrus.
So based on other whiskies I have already tasted I rate this Grant's Blended Whisky with 83 points over 100.
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