Talisker 1955 / 1992 Gordon & Macphail #1315 50.4%

Phenomenal whisky, a perfect meeting of wood, wine and spirit. Rich as only these old sherried casks can be, with dried fruit and sweet spice overtones but also hints of soy and umami, like oxidised fruit paste sprinkled with oxo. Excellent example of a whisky that’s entirely dry but paradoxically also rich. Past that its a saturation of pine terpenes, drops of old treesap like myrrh and camphorated cough syrup soaked into dark oily wood. Overripe oranges and incense ash. The old style peat slowly emerges from walls of sooty smoke. On the tongue the peat really swells like a tide from the Little Minch, sky full of oily flecks, floating ash and woodfires. Only a barest lick of salt appears at the end. If the sea is to be found, one must wade through an ocean of phenols first. So clearly a huge whisky, with layers upon layers, but not once did the very muscular wood or tannins become overbearing. 94 pts