Talisker 25 yo ‘Bottle TA25 3987’ 45.8% ~ bottle code L0296CM004 bottled 2020 vs Ledaig 11 yo 2008 / 2019 The Swan Song & 1BRD #700104 58.7%
Talisker 25 yo ‘Bottle TA25 3987’ 45.8% bottle code L0296CM004 bottled 2020
From after when the 25s went from high proof batch releases to the generic 45.8%, but before the ugly label change. I’ve always thought highly of the high proof 25s but this one is frankly a bit of a disappointment. To be sure the age and its maturity are apparent and the oak, while noticeably louder on all counts, has not muddied the picture presented by the sea and the peat, and that’s a boon by my count. Instead, the sharp saline and pepper aspect you find in the 10 has been made more amicable. The sandy peat, hot embers and black oily smoke are still eminent but now wear velvet gloves. Classic sea going aspects of salt spray, crisp seaweed, copious smoke, bitter lemon rind and wet decks are still very much present, but its a gentleman on his yacht and not a cussing merchantman. All in all it is exactly what you think a Talisker at 25 should be, but it is impossible not to remember the power and presence of the old 25 year old Talisker at high proof. Perhaps such a comparison is unfair and objectively this remains a fine whisky. 88 pts
Ledaig 11 yo 2008 / 2019 The Swan Song & 1BRD #700104 58.7%
And this. A shared cask bottled by The Swan Song, but I used this moss covered label to denote my own house pour. The whisky is of course identical, and many would have tried it by now, so no surprise – its hugely peaty, yet with these Ledaigs somehow managed to retain a sense of clean conciseness. Not complex stuff for sure, but everything in its exact place. Huge earthy peat, seawater, big clouds of white smoke, firewood burning on hot sand, shucked shellfish, drying nets, wet ropes and just a smidgeon of feints. What it doesn’t have – the iodine of a Laphroaig, the fuzzy burning herbs and fat of a Lagavulin, the sharp salinity of a Talisker/Caol Ila. Will these Ledaigs be characterful at 25? Left to be seen. 86 pts
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