Talisker 30 yo 1953 Gordon & Macphail 40% vs Talisker 1957 Gordon & Macphail 53.5%

Talisker 30 yo 1953 Gordon & Macphail 40%

Surprisingly rather smoky and peaty despite its 30 years. Dry crumbled peat dust, and smoke coaxed from a fire of dried branches. The whole remains quite phenolic and maritime and doesn’t stray from familiar territory so – salt water, engine oil, soot stains, and cut up seaweed. But also old dried up resin tins, wood conditioner oil, old camphor boxes, and dried mango slices. Great profile but alas, in the end it shows its age and time in the bottle. 87 pts

Talisker 1957 Gordon & Macphail 53.5%

Colossal whisky, thick and concentrated. Deeply resinous in dark hues that suggest things like unsweetened cola, pine resin, labdanum, bark extracts, smoky incense, herbal medicine and litres of bitters. Also chock full of oily woods like teak and blackwood polished to a sheen without being over-oaked with blocky tannins, a marvel in itself. The parade goes on with camphorous ointments, liquorice sticks, salted nutmeg, gentian essence, ink pots, sea mud and salt air. And never more than a step away, a legion of intense earthy phenols. Jaw dropping. 94 pts