Talisker Surge

First there was a Storm (meh), then there was a Dark Storm (huzzah), now there is a Surge. Is this the progression from the storms, or is this another TRE cash grab by the evil overlords at Diageo? With the evocative story lines of Storm and Surge, the battered coastline of Skye is easy to picture. But Trevor in marketing was clearly on lunch break for this release. Surge has a throw away watered down bit of storm related text and thats it. As for a comment about whats in the juice? Literally all I know is it was matured in ex bourbon barrels. For the price of it I want to know that cthulhu is surging form a watery abyss to cram salty demons down my throat. Alas. Still, the worst Talisker is still an enjoyable dram, so lets surge on… N: Salty crisp perfection. Smoke pushes through the salty wall carrying a healthy medicinal twang to the beach bonfire. Hints of toffee and mocha entwined with a vaguely floral honey. For the abrupt salt forward approach this is a delicate thing. As it sits in the glass I perhaps find a peppermint or menthol sinus opening freshness. P: Thinly oily with late ashiness. That gripping Talker cracked pepper to chilli is there and its delightful as always. Salty, unsurprisingly with plenty of minerality. Fresh oysters and a touch of BBQ bacon bits. Heavy on the dark chocolate, sweet notes of raisin (just about) and honied malt. After a little while I am picking up an almost soapy orange note at the front of my palate, a little odd; I’m not sure it’s supposed to be there. F: Long. Lingering ashy smoke, chilli bite, and an ever-present saltiness that has soft tannic toffee in the background. Surge, hmm. After being hit with a wall of salt on the nose I thought Cthulhu was coming for me after all, but it was more of a sea spray than a surging leviathan. An interesting liquid to be sure. The menthol/peppermint late in the nose; makes me wonder if there is part of the 57 North component in here? Maybe. It’s the only other Talisker I have noted it on. Hmm. The heavy blow of of the palate is a maritime smack down. But, it feels like a less refined Talisker 18, especially with the odd soapy orange at the end. I wonder what that is, the effect of sulphur perhaps? The finish is just fine, perhaps too salty stopping some of the calming vanillin coming through. Is it a Surge, it s a salt slap. It’s enjoyable, it will make you pay attention, but its not worth the asking price when the Dark Storm is a 1L for the same price or less in the TRE/NAS bracket. Distiller whisky taste #259 [Pictured here with an ‘anyolite’. This pretty thing comes from the Arusha region of Tanzania in Africa and is named after the Massai word ‘anyoli’ meaning green. Thats not an accepted name though, so best call it what it is, a corundum {ruby} - zoisite - pargasite - granofels. OK, for the sake of character count, anyolite will do. This region of Africa brings the goods every time; the Mozambique belt runs from East Antarctica, through East Africa and into Arabia. A huge mountain suture zone that formed when the super continent Gondwana came together. Along with the ocean sediments that go cooked up in this suture, ocean floor rocks also got super heated and transformed into impressive rock types like this one] Talisker running scores: T10: 4/5 T18: 4.75/5 T8 2021 Special Release: 4.5/5 Skye: 3.25/5 Port Ruighe: 2.75/3 Storm: 3.5/5 Dark Storm: 4.25/5 Surge: 4/5 57 North: 4.25/5 X Parley Wilder Seas: 4.25/5

Nose: Initially malt and a touch of mixed fruit, with a little rest in the glass the more familiar Talisker brine and tarry ropes show up. A distant beach barbecue and the just discernible fragrances of orange and vanilla blossoms growing by the seaside. The peat smoke is light but not deficient. Palate: Quite a salty arrival that progresses into an even saltier mid-palate like a surge (ha, ha) of briny waves, flotsam and sea-wrack. The signature Talisker chilli note is there in the late palate together with white pepper, but the top-notes here are malt, cereal and mocha. The texture is nicely oily but the peat smoke is light and ashen. Finish: Medium/Long. Sweet and salted (like salted dried fruit) with a dash of pepper and ash in the aftertaste. With repeated sips the briny presence builds and it is this that provides the length. This is the first Talisker I’ve tasted since the dreadful new packaging was adopted, and while I did not expect any change to the existing expressions I was surprised by the amount of brine in this new offering. The saline character threatens to become a wall of salt, but pulls back just in time, however this malt becomes agreeable more because your palate gets used to it rather than anything else. This was tasted from a sample provided by @DrRHCMadden. I received it months ago but I’ve been so busy catching up on half a year of distillery visit reviews that I’ve only just now opened my stash of samples. I also acquired a bottle of this from Duty Free in May but having now tasted the sample I think I’ll open the bottle sooner rather than later. This is a good malt, quirky but approachable once you get used to it. In some ways it’s like a saltier version of Old Pulteney 12 from a decade ago, so it should be a good session whisky. One thing, I didn't think it took water very well. A dash does not bruise the whisky and it does mute the salt a little, but it also introduces a sour lemon note to the palate which is not quite right. Altogether I thought it was best without reduction. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)

Everybody knows by now that i just love Talisker. I have always said that if i ever have to live in a lonely island due to a shipwreck, if i had to choose which whisky i would take, there are only two options for me, Glendronach and Talisker. Having said that, a rather new, not very promoted expression of this amazing distillery has been recently released, and of course i had to taste it right away. "SURGE" is the name of this new Talisker, and i believe it belongs to the duty free expressions, to the same "collection" where previous releases are Skye, Storm and Dark Storm. Of course, it is bottled at the classic 45.8%abv. On the nose, super salty, incredibly maritime. Cocoa and dark chocolate. Raisins. It is like a salted chocolate. Pretty thing. On the palate the Dark chocolate became very "refined". Salt and ery maritime. Oysters and scallops. Aftertaste followed the same rythm, because lets tell the truth here, this is a very good profile for a whisky: Chocolate, smoke, sea salt. It has a wonderful smokiness and a sulphuric beauty. Overall, i might be biased because i really love this type of maritime single malts. I have loved almost every Talisker there is, and believe me, i have tasted A LOT of their expressions (i even had a 50yo once) (independent bottler though). Talisker surely played it safe here, but the thing is, that they can effortlessly create a whisky and chances are that it will be amazing no matter what. Great stuff, for a lovely price, my score for it is 96 over 100; scoring 24 points in each criteria. Sláinte!

Currenrly stiocked in BA first lounge. Locely peaty whisky.

Strong flavor but smooth. Spice finish

dark, smokey