Etikettarkiv: Islands whisky review

Islands, Talisker

Talisker 25 YO Cask Strength (Special Release 2004)

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ABV: 57.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet fruits and peat. At first there’s a sweet mix of honey, vanilla and peaches. There’s a minerality inside as well as a hint of dry soil. When it starts to settle the peatiness moves up along the edges and brings some coastal notes with it. It feels a bit fresher than its age but it does have a deeper side and complexity to it. The old oakiness slowly emerges with a good portion of time in the glass. This is a fantastic nose with a lot to offer to both the casual drinker and the explorer.

Mouth: It starts out with the peat around the edges. It has a lot more smokiness to it than on the nose and it’s still mineral rich. The center part is spicy, yet brings forward peaches and honey. It’s here the age shows itself as well with old oak and dusty leather bound books. The background notes are slightly bitter and nutty with coffee and walnuts. The high ABV never mellows and it’s an extremely powerful experience.

Finish: The transition is very logical and it doesn’t move too far in any direction. The peaches and honey, together with vanilla and old oak, create the first part of the finish, while the peat slowly moves back. The minerality disappears and gives way to some coastal notes, but it still maintains the same overall character. The oakiness is now spreading out on the palate and joins the walnuts and coffee for a very long and rewarding finish which seems to last forever. This is an absolutely marvellous dram overall.

Additional information
This whisky was aged for in refill ex-sherry casks. It’s a 2004 diageo special release limited to 21000 bottles.

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Islands, Jura

Jura 12 YO Sherry Cask

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ABV: 43.5 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 3/5

Tasting notes
Sample added to queue. Tasting notes pending.

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Additional information
This whisky was first aged for 10 years in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished for 2 years in ex-Oloroso casks from Jerez, Spain. It was released for the swedish market.

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Arran, Arran Malt, Islands, Lagg

Lagg Corriecravie Edition – Sherry Cask Finish

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ABV: 55 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is sweet and peaty. At first there’s a vanilla heavy sweetness mixed with a nice vegetal peatiness, iodine and a hint of dry soil. There’s a sourness in the back and some baking spices up front. With time in the glass the sherry notes slowly take over. There’s a hint of chocolate covered raisins, red fresh berries and a hint of tobacco all making the whole a nice solid profile with a nice power to it. This is a great nose with a lot to offer. It’s young and fresh but delivers some depth as well.

Mouth: It starts out with a dry earthy peat and a peppery spicyness from the higher ABV. The palate gets coated with dark flavours like coffee, raisins and tobacco while it still delivers some lemon notes from the back and some iodine rich medicinal peatiness up front. It’s quite rowdy at this point. It’s less sweet than on the nose and it feels very oily and well made. There’s a dampness floating around as well which contributes to the complexity of the whole.

Finish: The finish starts out with the spicyness floating out gently over the palate which creates a very nice effect. First out is the coffee notes with a bitter background note which mixes with lemon sourness. The raisins, the tobacco and the medicinal peat are joined by a dark chocolate note down the line and create a pleasant, but not easy accessible, finish. The oakiness comes fashionably late and brings the dampness with it, even though there’s a fresher character up front. This is a great whisky overall. It’s young and rowdy, yet it’s wearing a nice set of garments.

Additional information
This whisky was first aged in ex-bourbon barrels and then finished in ex-oloroso hogsheads from Spain. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

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Islands, Ledaig, Tobermory

Ledaig 10 YO

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ABV: 46.3 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 1
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is vegetal and peaty. At first there’s a big vegetal and hebaceous peatiness with a medicinal and ashy background. There’s heather and iodine and also a thin menthol layer on top of everything else. The background is quite gritty and complex with a rubber note somewhere within. With time in the glass vanilla and honey start to emerge and makes the whole very approachable. There’s also a hint of green apples peeking through. This is a fantastic nose with a great array of flavours.

Mouth: It starts out with a slightly bitter background surrounding a very medicinal peat note. It’s not as vegetal as on the nose and it packs a nice punch from the get-go. The vanilla and honey are now out on the edges as well as the green apples but they play second fiddle to the rowdy and gritty flavours. The rubber note is still in the as well as the ashy notes. It mirrors the nose very well and it’s constantly evolving without changing the theme.

Finish: The finish starts out with a big push of heather, vanilla and honey. After a few seconds they once again get pushed back by the medicinal peat and the gritty background, which now has moved forward a bit. When everything settles the heather stays together with the medicinal peat and dry oakiness. It sort of feels like saw dust; Fresh yet dusty. This is a fantastic whisky which isn’t for the feint hearted. It’s very rowdy, yet it presents itself as sweet and flowery.

Additional information
This is made by the Tobermory Distillery. It’s not stated, but suggested that it’s aged in ex-bourbon barrels. The peat level i 37 ppm. It’s unchillfiltered and has natural colour.

Islands, Talisker

Talisker 18 YO

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ABV: 45.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is mellow peat and fresh fruits. At first, there’s an array of fruits sitting inside a circle of gentle peat. It’s oranges and grapefruits side by side with ripe apples, dried apricots and just a hint of overripe plums. The peatiness is a warm, burning bonfire, but it’s out in the distance and not very protruding. The whole thing is kept together with vanilla and oak. With time in the glass it gets fruitier. There is a coastal, salty note but it’s buried deep within. It feels a bit fresher than its age and it’s a very nice, complex nose.

Mouth: It starts out quite mild and sweet but after a few seconds the flavours start rushing in. The fruitiness is now leaning heavily towards grapefruits and dried apricots with just a hint of raisins. The peat is creating a thin oily outside layer. In the dead center there’s a dusty oak note. It’s spicy but it’s a slow build up, which makes it easy to handle throughout. The oakiness seems to be connected to a malty beer note. It becomes sweeter and with time in the glass brings a honey note aswell.

Finish: It starts out quite spicy with a nice transition of flavours from before. It’s still grapefruits and apricots with a hint of darker notes and the peat is still creating the oily outside layer. The coastal note becomes more clear in the late finish, as well as the dusty oakiness, which fits nicely together with the bitterness coming from the grapefruits. The malty beer returns in the late finish as a nice little surprise. The late finish leaves a hint of peat and lemons. This is a complex dram with a lot to offer.

Additional information
The Talisker 18 YO is aged in both american ex-bourbon barrels and european ex-sherry casks. There not much information other than that to be found.

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Highland Park, Islands

Highland Park 18 YO

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ABV: 43 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 5/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is dark fruits and leather. Ripe plums, raisins and liquorice comes through as a thick layer sitting on top of notes of new leather and dry garden soil. The whole thing is salty and a savory note can be found in the middle of it all. A small veil of mentholated tobacco hovers like a cloud above everything else. After a while coffee and sweet oranges appear. This is quite complex and has great depth.

Mouth: It’s a mild and fresh lemon/orange based start. It’s salty, yet very fruity and much brighter than on the nose. Dried fruits such as a mix of raisins, coconut and pineapples are in there, but also darker fruit flavours such as ripe red apples and plums. It’s very juicy. A small hint of dust and a complex note coming from the long maturation creates a nice depth. Far away in the back there’s a maritime feel to it.

Finish: The leather and tobacco notes coming from the peat is first, then soil and a mix of fresh and darker fruits. A small bitterness comes through before the oakiness arrives. It comes with notes of coffee and walnuts. The sherry notes and the leather stick around and together with the oak they stay for a long very nice finish. After a few sips a tropical fruitiness starts to appear in the finish. The finish also has the aura of the long maturation. This is an excellent whisky.

Additional information
The Highland Park 18 YO was released in 1997. The ppm is 20 and it’s aged in both american and european Oloroso sherry seasoned oak casks. It has natural colour.

Islands, Talisker

Talisker Distiller’s Edition 2001/2012

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ABV: 45.8 %
Origin: Islands
Type: Single Malt
Bottles in collection: 0
Emptied bottles: 0
Impression: 4/5

Tasting notes
Nose: This is coastal and fruity. At first, the sherry notes come up with darker fruits and red berries. Behind there’s a layer of vanilla and honey with some salt and white sand mixed in. Even further back there are some brighter fruits like green apples. The feint peatiness is creating a thin veil of smoke from mentholated tobacco. A medicinal note comes through after some time in the glass.

Mouth: At first there’s a bitter note together with a touch of spices. After a second or two the peatiness starts to build up with a very medicinal aura. The tobacco is still present but it has strayed from the menthol. The sherry notes are somewhat held back and acts as fillers for the harsher flavours. There’s some vanilla coming through but the honey sweetness is now gone.

Finish: The menthol comes back and together with the medicinal notes the lead way back onto the beach. There’s a quite noticable saltiness and it’s still got an earthy, sandy feel to it. The sherry is still toned down and the fruitiness is much brighter than before. After some time the oak comes through. It’s a mild oakiness. There’s no astringency and it never sits alone. It’s accompanied by the medicinal notes all the way to the end. In the late finish the tobacco notes reappear. This is a dram with a nice fruity twist to an otherwise rowdy experience.

Additional information
This is basically the Talisker 10 YO finished for about a year in ex-Amaroso sherry casks. It has around 20 ppm. It’s aged for 10 years in reconstructed american ex-bourbon oak barrels before the finishing period.

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