A top-notch trio of old Taliskers


November 7, 2025

A top-notch trio of old Taliskers

Granted, there’s been a lot of Talisker on WF lately, but it’s a distillery—and a malt—we’re deeply fond of. After all, it’s the closest cousin to Brora/Old Clynelish. Yes, honestly… That said, today we’ll be focusing only on older, rather prestigious vintages.

(Recent magazine advert. Apparently, it's perfectly fine to drink Talisker out of tin mugs.)

Talisker 30 yo 1993/2024 (60.4%, OB, Cask of Distinction, for Gourmet Pool, cask #ZL01, 459 bottles)

Quite the ABV at this age, but we’ve few fears here and now, hic et nunc... Colour: pale gold. Nose: a Toledo blade, lemon, brine, oyster juice and iodine tincture. It’s millimetric, chiselled, ultra-precise, surgical. With water: pine resin and teak oil in abundance, which happens to be something we absolutely adore. Mouth (neat): marvellous. Pomelos and oysters in a wild, rubbery and peppery tango. Well, that about sums it up, except one ought to add a generous helping of smoked fish. With water: it’s true that it isn’t outrageously complex, but it becomes even more coastal and maritime. Your twenty-fourth oyster, having already downed twenty-three. Finish: long, a tad oilier now, which is rather fortunate. Almond milk, seawater, shellfish, seaweed, propolis. Comments: apparently we missed the pepper, but at this level of coastal character, it’s practically an offshore regatta. Are they using super-enzymes or what?
SGP:565 - 91 points.

Talisker 34 yo 1989/2023 (48.7%, OB, Cask of Distinction, for Jimmy Chen, refill American oak hogshead, cask #2816, 201 bottles)

We tasted a Lagavulin COD also selected by Jimmy Chen the other day, and it was superb. Colour: gold. Nose: magnificent, very tertiary, almost decomposed in the best possible sense, on lots of crushed slate, chalk, acidic soils, charcoal, burnt fir wood, dried seaweed and Champagne, with a few touches of mushroom (agaric). We’re already entering another dimension... Mouth: back to drier things, almost more modern, saltier than saline, this time rather peppery, the whole being very tight and yes, very dry and spicy. Let’s see what water can bring (perhaps)... With water: brine, preserved lemons, seawater, the faintest hint of cardboard. It does seem to be drifting slightly toward dryness, yet it remains, of course, an absolute marvel. I imagine it wouldn’t have benefited from a later bottling; one senses we’re already nearing the limit. Finish: fairly long, salty, very dry. Comments: the fruits have more or less abandoned ship, but the ensuing ultra-dryness brings its own abundant charms.
SGP:265 - 90 points.

Talisker 44 yo ‘Forests of the Deep’ (48.8%, OB, 1,997 bottles, 2022)

We do quite like the names they give some of their expressions; they carry a certain gravitas, unlike those of the SMWS, which, let’s admit, are far funnier. At any rate, we’d never tried this 44-year-old before, though we did taste the 45-year-old ‘Glacial Edge’ two years ago and found it magnificent (WF 93). This 44 was a new collaboration with Parley. Cask staves were loaded aboard Parley’s expedition vessel, bound for the kelp forests off the Cape of Good Hope. Once returned to Scotland, they were made into ten casks and lightly charred using Scottish kelp and stave shavings. Alright then... Colour: full. Nose: we find a richer, fruitier profile, almost reminiscent of salted butter caramel, with a faint note of mango and, above all, plenty of quince, which pairs beautifully with some lightly peppered whelks and razor clams for the maritime side of things. It gradually becomes more subtle, with delicate touches of linseed oil, fresh mastic, paint and beeswax, before apricot brings the fruitiness back to the fore. Mouth: drier, more oaky, and saltier too, the fruits having retreated somewhat, but there’s nori, wakame, a little green liquorice, black propolis once again, green pepper, oysters with Tabasco... Finish: the bitterness comes through, and it’s a lovely kind of bitterness, only very slightly drying. A touch of lemon zest lifts the aftertaste quite nicely. Comments: excellent, of course, though I did find the 45-year-old a touch more compelling. In fact, let’s revisit it... yes, indeed, it was a little ‘zestier’, shall we say, though the family resemblance is clear. One could raise the matter of value in relation to the 10-year-old (WF 90), which costs at least a hundred times less. But talking about money is vulgar, isn’t it.
SGP:465 - 91 points.

Check the index of all Talisker we've tasted