ABV: 45.8%
Picture taken from www.thewhiskyexchange.com
This is the new bottling, with a picture of the Isle of Skye on the box cover, rather than the older bottling from the early-mid 2000s which won the Whisky of the Year Award at the World Whisky Awards. I saw one of this older bottling at Vom Fass, at Ion, Orchard, selling at $210+. I chose not to buy it, as I'm not sure if I want another Talisker at this point in time, given my budget constraints...Maybe I'll get it after I finish my current bottle of the Talisker 18, and the older bottling is still on the shelf...
Colour: A pleasant gold colour. Forms many nice tear drops along the sides of a Glencairn glass.
Nose: Peat and oak drifts up first as the dominant note in the first nosing. A malty, cereal-y sweetness hides behind the initial notes, while a lingering pepperiness fills and tingles the nose. Giving it a little bit of a swirl brings up more pepper, but also a briny character, as a good "island" whisky should have. Suggestions of something citrus-y as well, but I can't quite pin down what it is. Oranges? Letting it sit for a while, and the whisky starts to smell a bit like a light Laphroaig, with medicinal peat becoming more prominent in the nose. The savoury-salty character becomes a bit stronger as well. Reminds me of a smoked ham almost.
Palate: First sip - citrusy notes comes to the fore first, to be quickly replaced by a bit of peat. A slight oak taste that then gives way to a malty sweetness that's almost like a bourbon casked whisky. Pepper. Second sip: Oooooh. The pepper first this time, followed by hints of the briny taste that a good sea breeze leaves on your tongue. Sweet. The sweetness in the Talisker 18 is more forthcoming than in the 10. A friend of mine did not like the Talisker because it was too unpredictable; different sips brought different tastes into focus, without the well-crafted, orderly layers of flavours in some other whiskies. The alcohol is surprisingly present in an 18 year old. Not a terrible burn, but you can feel the 45.8% ABV, and the kick of the Talisker spirit. Complements the pepper well, on the whole. Third sip: sweeeeet. Then pepper. Smoke rises up to the nose. Ahhh. I live in a country that's hot all year round, but this is what I imagine having a fireplace must feel like.
Finish: Smoke on the finish (and I think one can distinguish between peat and smoke. One's more vegetal, while the other is a bit more like...well, smoke.) This one's smoke feels a bit like tobacco, the drying type. And yes, a drying finish. A slight medicinal peat, which seems to go together with the drying finish. Peppery aftertaste lingers long in the mouth to balance out the smoke. A little bit of bitter oak, but that, in my opinion, adds a bit more character to the finish.
Overall: A bit unpredictable, a little wild, but that's what people have come to expect from the Talisker. The usual suspects are all in here, and the Talisker 18 is one of the show-pieces of the distillery to display what Talisker is all about. From reviews online, the present Talisker 18 is perhaps not quite the same as the older, WWA-winning elder sibling, but it is a very good drink in its own right.
Value for money?: In Singapore, the Talisker 18 can be bought at the 1855 Bottle Shop at $200. Not cheap, while the Talisker 10 is $106. The Talisker 18 is a more enjoyable dram, as it unleashes its sweetness more readily, but I'm not sure if the difference in quality is worth the difference in price.
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