Talisker 57º North

This is now my fourth Talisker. Hot off the heels of the 10, 2021 Special Edition 8 “Sea Fury”, and the 18; I only have expectations of further wonderment from within this little 30 ml tasting bottle. At this point in my whisky education/journey I am a firm fan of the Scottish Isles and Skye’s tempestuous offerings are no exceptions. The consistent theme of depth and brine take me to a place of an old lighthouse keeper watching the waves batter the coast. Named after the latitudinal location of the distillery, Talisker 57° North is a no-age-statement single malt that was released in 2008, initially as a travel exclusive, but has been discontinued. Despite knowing I will never likely drink this again, I was none the less excited at the opportunity. N: I was expecting a stormy smack, but to my surprise this is calm, soft, and warming. Undeniably rich though, there is some sweetness like a caramel biscuit (think Biscoff). The slightest chocolate, honey, and a fresh muddled peppermint herbal note. Of course, there is the Talisker brine with slightly mineralic ashy cured meat smoke. A vaguely fresh oyster maritime smell wafts through. P: Oh, interesting and unexpected again. Like a thin syrup the arrival is coating and powerful. Sweetness, salivating sweetness of gooey creamy caramel turns to peppery-chilli peat that absolutely explodes with layers of buttery popcorn and possibly some apple/pear juice. Everything is vibrant and fills the palate completely. F: Medium-long. Surprisingly fresh with a menthol like cleansing, a light brine and maybe candied lemon vibrancy. A few drops of water stretches things out, brings maltiness a little forwards and accentuates the chilli. Nothing really added, nothing taken away. This is powerful stuff. No surprises, it is a Talisker. It is surprisingly juicy and moreish, but it’s also simple. There are layers but they are the same layers I have found in the other three Taliskers I have tasted on here. Those layers are clean, clear, and sharply defined, but; I feel here there is a lack of uniqueness perhaps. I thought the 57% ABV would unlock something new. Whilst I find elements of the T18 and Sea Fury 8 on the nose this is not as distinct as either (but wonderful all the same). Where the palate of the 18 has orange peel and chocolate, the Sea Fury 8 and 10 have bacon, baking chocolate and earthy minerality. Overall I enjoyed this, it is “better” than the 10, slightly more refined, but not as special as other Taliskers for the same price point. [Pictured with a rather sizeable lump of the Campo Del Cielo nickel-iron meteorite from ~1000 km northwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina. This is a fragment of a meteorite that impacted 4000-5000 years ago and covered an area of 3x19 km and yielded 100 tonnes of material to date. Given that these can’t be “produced” anymore (illegal to remove from Argentina) I thought this rock was appropriate for a discontinued travel retail whisky] Distiller whisky tasting #111

The final bonus sample from this current round of the SDT is from everyone’s favorite Island distillery, Talisker. 57° North is a travel retail exclusive. Not only does the 57 refer to the strength of the whisky, but also the distillery’s global coordinates (which happens to be Lat 57° 17’.9N, Long 06° 21’.5 W). Bottled at 57% ABV and is most likely natural color of honey gold and I can confirm that it is non chill filtered. The nose is pepper and peat smoke, although the latter is somewhat restrained. Slightly medical. Malty/cereal, herbal and floral. BBQ meats, mostly chicken and maybe some hamburger, both of which are over cooked and dried out. Earthy and vegetal (more peat). Honey, lemon, dried apricots and grilled oranges. Balanced oak, faint mint, fennel or maybe licorice. Olive brine/salty, lemon custard and vanilla sweetness. With water there is more honey and grilled fruits, hay and chalkiness. It becomes chalky pretty quick. The palate is sweet up front but the signature Talisker pepper quickly takes control and overpowers any sweetness that was there. Not much peat or smoke at first, but it does build a bit. Ashes and barrel char, salty. Water brings out honey and citrus in the form of lemons and pineapple. A medium-full bodied mouthfeel that is semi-dry and mouth coating. The finish is medium length, dry, slightly nutty with plenty of pepper, oak and a puff of smoke. The opposite of the 18 year old. Instead of elegant and refined, it’s a battering ram of pepper and spice. This is definitely a young whisky. Based on the high ABV and lack of real depth this is more than apparent. It’s main attribute is its brute force and ability to assault your senses (in a good way). Not much water needed, if any, to enjoy this one. Still, I would take the iconic 10 year old over this one any day of the week. I’d take the Storm/Dark Storm too. At $95 it’s not a great bargain either, considering the Dark Storm is about $30 less and they are both TREs (no tax since I got them at duty free) and both are 1L bottles. Yes the 57 gives you an extra 11.2% ABV, but in my opinion the trade off isn’t worth the money. Having said all that, this is still a solid 4 star single malt. Cheers

Flashback to the hotel room whisky share prior to Whiskyfest DC, my buddy @Generously_Paul brought ample pours of this newer NAS from Talisker: 57 degrees North. This is essentially a cask strength version of their other non-age statement offerings. The age of the juice is estimated to be 6-8 years old and the name not only indicates the ABV but also the latitudinal location of the distillery itself. Kinda cool. The color is a rich gold and there’s a few thick legs that’ll snake down the tasting glass when you give it a solid spin. The nose is typical Talisker: smoke, peat, pepper and BBQ. The saltiness provided a stiff backbone and I got what seemed like a stiff hit of mint each time I put it to my nose. I think this minty freshness could be attributed more to the extra ABV than any other factor. The palate starts you off with a strong punch from the alcohol, but then the pepper and thick Talisker smoke take hold before releasing some thin citrus notes and an odd syrupy sweetness. The harsh aspect of the young sauce also wrecks the overall mouthfeel, as well. The finish is incredibly harsh and hot. I don’t like adding water to anything I drink, especially when I only have a single pour to rate with. If I have the entire bottle to play with I may do some experimental pours and blending, but I mostly like to drink them the way the distillery intended. More smoky aspects remain behind on the finish, which was delightfully medium-long. There were some roasted nut flavors left behind long after you finish the dram. This one was tougher to enjoy than I truly expected. I love Talisker almost as much as I love Laphroaig, but this one was a bit of a failure. It’s too harsh and gets manhandled by the pepper notes. Maybe 57% is too much for their juice to handle, but they wanted a semi-cask strength offering to compete with everyone else, but this one isn’t a high quality example IMHO. 3-3.25 stars because it’s still nice and smoky, but ultimately I don’t think I’d buy a bottle of this one. Cheers.

Bottled 2015. I bought my 1L bottle of this on sale at a Duty Free for around 60 USD back in 2016. I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything on sale at a Duty Free that I actually enjoyed. On cold, windy, rainy evenings, when neither my dog nor I enjoy a mandatory walk; when she does her business, and we hurry back home; she will always get comfort rewarming next to the fireplace. Her fireplace. Every now and again, this bottle of Talisker, young and strong at 57%, tricks me into believing that it can provide the same comfort that her fireplace provides her. This is a soulless, elemental experience from a time before the Earth could harbor life. There’s dirt, mineral ore, and deep fried salt. No fucking fish; or meat; or plant – just frying salt here. That’s the nose. On the palate, there’s a brief remembrance of Talisker 10, except amplified. Lots of pepper, chili, caramel, citrus, and red fruits. But the pleasantness is fleeting, and replaced by this mix of seawater and swimming pool water. The finish claws at the back of the throat with jagged crystals of caramel and minerals. A big helping of water smooths things out somewhat, but only by turning down the volume; it does not give this dram much needed life. This is nothing compared to Talisker 10; but slightly better than Talisker Storm. The alcohol warms me up a little, but everything else leaves me still chilly. Time to snuggle up to my dog, and her fireplace, with a second pour of Ardbeg Kelpie. Score: 0 (forgettable) How much does a bottle cost: Not available where I live. Check travel retail and online stores. $77 on TWE. How much do I think a bottle is worth: $35

My first exposure to Talisker was years ago at a tasting where my experience with scotch was the small world of Johnnie Walker and Glenlivet. Talisker 10 just blew me away. Talisker 18 is one of my all time favorites. This Talisker through TRE was provided by the extremely knowledgeable @Generously_Paul through our SDT group which has now been long completed except by me. Now enough my background, onto the whisky. Its golden colored. A dense nose that contains notes of earthy mineral, rubber and a maritime brine. Grilled apricots, honey and a pinch of pepper. There is an rubbing alcohol quality that hovers with some malty sweetness. The initial sips arrive harsh and abrasive like sandpaper. The scratchy sensation dissipates and turns to pepper and sugary sweetness and fruitiness of apricots and pineapples. There are notes of lemon zest and charcoal that are more exposed towards the finish. Water tempers the spice which allows the sweetness to push forward. Scotch fog (not a mist) is quite apparent. What remains on the palate for a medium length of time is a drying oak, black pepper, charcoal and some bitterness. This is a spicy one. The Talisker pepper notes and readily available, however, it lacks a comparative depthness to the classic 10 and to the obvious 18. For me, this is closer to the Storm the the aforementioned but lacks the smokiness. A spot of water is all that is needed, if you wish. Anything more weakens the dram. All in all, still enjoyable and I thank @Generously_Paul for this sample as my (lack of) travels prevent me from coming across this one. [87/100][Tasted: 2/8/19]

This is one of the more rare Talisker bottlings that has an ABV above the traditional 45.8%. I don’t think the 57% is actual cask strength because at that assumed young NAS age it probably would be 60 or above - but it is close. Even though it has a lot more alcohol percentage it for sure doesn’t show on the nose. It is very smooth. There is also some very nice bright fruits. So far the nicest fruit mix of any Talisker. Especially in combination with the mild peat. There is some pineapple as well as woody spices like nutmeg and cloves. I think what I like the most about it is that is very defined and clean and also deep and smooth. The palate is equally pure and equalized: nice peat, great fruit sweetness, vibrant citric notes and smooth nuts, vanilla and spices - all coming together in a silky sweet unison with a lively kick. Really nice. The finish stays sweet sour with a nice peat on the side. No bitterness and the burn is appropriate for the high ABV. After a few drops of water (with the ABV somewhere around 50%) the nose gets a bid more dry and the peat steps more into the foreground. But the nice fruits (now with added banana) and more vanilla become more defined as well. This Talisker has been and after this taste still is definitely one of - if not the - favorite Talisker expressions of mine.