TL:DR: A young mildly peated whisky for the sweet leaning drinkers
Vote*: 5 Average (in a good way).
*Votes are based on the scoring scale used by Dramface, slightly modified to allow half-points
This review of the Talisker Storm was originally supposed to be for the Talisker 10 an iconic example of maritime peat, loved by many. Instead, for once, I voted with my wallet. Here in Italy, the three entry level whiskies from the distillery, the 10 year old, Storm and Skye have been on a promotional rotation in supermarkets and online for the last part of 2023. When I was looking for a Talisker bottle to grab, the Skye was the one on sale. It was cheaper than the others by quite a bit, so the choice was easy. (These promotions and discounts seem to say more about the state of whisky than it might appear. For those interested, I have added a small comment on this after the review.)
Your choice of entry level Taliskers
Talisker Storm and Skye were launched in 2013 and 2015 respectively. At the time the rumor mill speculated that the aim was to replace the 10 year old. These rumour seemed to be exaggerated. This informative post by Words of Whisky from 2015 has Diageo’s official reply. The company stated that the 10 YO would still be available but in reduced amounts and specialist shops. 8 years down the line this has most definitely not happened. The 10 year old is not only available but widely available through supermarkets so. It seems this ended up being a similar story to Glenlivet’s failed attempt to replace the 12 YO with the Founder’s Reserve.
In the end, switching to reviewing the Talisker Skye might have worked for the best. I was looking for an entry level peated malt to bridge between the low peat of Highland Park 12 and my next whisky review, the Laphroaig 10 year old, with its famously intense medicinal peat. The Skye is marketed as the more friendly of the three with a less spicy and mild peated profile, and a sweeter character thanks to the use of both refill and toasted bourbon barrels. Right where I wanted to be, as it would seem.
Talisker Skye
Specs
Price paid: 29.90€
Lot/bottled date: L2345CM014
ABV: 45.8%
Natural colour: No
Non-chill filtered: Not stated but unlikely
Casks used: Ex bourbon refill and toasted barrels
Tasting Notes
Colour: Once more the ubiquitous coppery amber colour that seems to be the standard shade chosen when caramel is added by distilleries.
Aromas: The nose has medium intensity, The peat hits first, noticeable but mild. It brings some slight medicinal notes but mostly a woody smokiness. After the peat, some maritime and caramel notes are noticeable. There is also a definite sweet fruit, artificially-flavoured candy note, like an artificial grape aroma, and some lemon peel and heather. After a few minutes in the glass, the peat turns more phenolic/medicinal, and a touch of jalapeño spice emerges. After about 10 minutes the intensity of the aromas drops off in a noticeable way leaving mild smoke, maritime notes, but most of all a strange sour fruit note..
Taste: As expected at almost 46% the flavour intensity is there, but so is the alcoholic burn from a relatively young spirit. The peat leads the taste, more woody and ashy than medicinal. There is a strong freshly washed laundry note and then some caramel and fruit sweetness.
Finish: The finish is short to medium. In succession, I got wood ash, lemon peel, caramel, a chilli bite and some malt. The aftertaste is of lingering oaky bitterness.
How does it behave with a drop of water? Water transforms this whisky into a much sweeter and fruitier dram. On the nose there is less smoke, the fruit turns towards peach and pear and the maritime notes remain as before. Also on the palate, it gets sweeter though the main taste remains pretty similar to the neat one.
Conclusions
I will have to try the Talisker 10 at some point, but all in all, I am glad I reviewed the Talisker Skye in my first dip into the world of peat. It is a whisky that certainly fills the space as a mild peated dram with some character. And yet, it is not a bottle I will be looking to replace. Even at almost 46% abv it has that “promising nose but somewhat disappointing palate” profile that 40% whiskies seem to excel at. It is also noticeably young and hot to the taste. That would not be a major problem if the taste intensity was there. When that is not the case it becomes less acceptable.
A note on Talisker and its discounts in 2023
It seems that Talisker has been doing some pretty wild promotions around various countries in Europe. If you speak German or are OK with the automatic subtitles, this recent video from Whisky Tales is quite illuminating on what might be behind this. The reason could come down to two possible explanations. Either raising storage costs for barrels and too much stock sitting in warehouses combining to prompt stock to be moved out as a result. Or possibly, due to Diageo (Talisker’s parent company) going for a final push ahead of their end of year financial results. In any case not a great endorsement for the state of the scotch whisky industry. In both cases, considering Talisker is the 7th highest selling Scotch single malt brand, it is another sign that the market seems to be slowing down.
I usually try to share other reviews of the whiskies I try to provide other opinions. Let’s just say that this was not that simple with the Talisker Skye, which definitely seems to be pretty much ignored by the reviewers and YouTubers I follow, with the one exception of this No Nonsense Whisky review.
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