Talisker 25 Year Old (Bottled 2011)

Spirit Name: Spirit Type:	Talisker 25 Year Old (Bottled 2011) Single malt
Score:	93/100
ABV:	45.8%
Region:	Isle of Skye, Scotland
Body:	Medium
Intensity:	Medium
Texture:	Buttery
Balance:	Heavenly
Best served:	Neat
Theme(s):	Buttery, soft peat, toffee, salt, iodine, mint (minties), tar ropes
Summary:	A buttery and silky smooth entry is met with the warm glow of peat moderated by sweet sugars and the spray of iodine and salt as the refreshing note of mint confectionery brightens the palate.
Tasting notes:	Nose: Glowing embers of peat emerge from an oily foundation of sweetness, as the cask influence does not - surprising for a peated whisky of this age - dominate but instead compliments and acts as a counterbalance to the peat and the saltiness on the nose. There is the sweetness of raspberry toffee as the snap of spice is complimented by the smoke rising over wood (as the birth of a campfire usually does). There is the curious aroma of mint, sweet mint in fact, akin to minties or peppermint oil.   Taste: Smooth, like butter melting on the tongue. This whisky almost made me fall off my chair (from its taste, not other legitimate qualities). That buttery smoothness is extraordinary because it glides on the tongue as those embers of peat glow without crackling or disturbing the smooth tide as it covers and fills the palate. The peat is balanced by the radiating sweetness of the toffee as it develops into shards of hard candy as the spray of salt pleasantly interrupts. That int theme shines on the palate, again like minties rather than pepermint oil, with its mouth refreshing qualities. Lovely! Finish: That oiliness lingers on the palate, with the peat and briny Talsiker theme beaming on the palate like tar bashing against a pier. The age of this whisky is noticeable, because the oak notes shine through the peat to deliver spices.
Likes:	Silky smooth with a buttery texture that lingers
Tasted:	7-Sep-2013
Price:	$500 (Aus), £215 (UK)

*Not blind tasted