Talisker 1956 ‘Cask’ Gordon & MacPhail 54.4%

Talisker 1956 ‘Cask’ Gordon & MacPhail 54.4%

This one is cut from the big and old style of sherry cloth. Big, rich fruit, oxidized browns and condensed blacks, insanely complex. Nothing modern comes close. Ambers and golden sultanas, moist and sticky, hawthorn flakes and candied orange peel. Musty honey. Aromatic woody compounds. Milky cardamom tea. Some rancio elements too, leathery and herbal extracts of the pungent but green sort like Ricola. Medicinal anise, preserved mango and pineapple. The sherry is quite insistent here and on the palate the peat has an opportunity to shine. Here it’s coastal, salty even, bracing with burnt branches and tarry aspects but the muscular sherry simply runs off everything else. 93 pts