N : The first thing that hits me here is lemons! In a Talisker? The peat is still there though. Very unusual.
P : The lemon peat theme continues but the peppery explosion is greater than even in the 10! The mouthfeel is quite creamy and coating. Very nice but very unexpected.
F : Wow that pepper really bites now! All the lemon and peat is still here.
Really surprised by this one that was a sample from Rene. Very unexpected lemon flavours plus more pepper than anything I've
N: Salt and sherry. Something a little like paint but not actually paint - treated fences I think! [edit: creosote?]
Seaweed on the beach - and is there a trace of honey too?
P: Mmm, delicate for all the strength of flavour. Peat of course, but there are tarred ropes in here too. Fishing boats maybe.
F: Long smoked finish with a slight fish taste, and a hint of lemon!
C: I haven't had T10 for a while so it's quite fresh to me. But this is much better than I remember this bottling (Blue box and blue capsule) being. I don't recall such strong tar and lemon previously...
Glad I broke my self-imposed buying ban today due to the offer price
N : Peaty, with a trace of TCP and some iodine notes. Seaweed (kelp).
Some sweetness comes in after a while - almost like a trace of vanilla, but hard to pin down.
P : Smooth and warming with a big hit of peat followed by pepper and - yes it's liquorice! A big mouthfilling malt this.
F : Long finish that I'm still tasting a few minutes later. Peppery and peaty. And a little milk chocolate in the background.
N : This seems to have been finished in sherry from the nose. There's also a strange note that jars a little at first but I can't identify it. Otherwise the usual Talisker smoke/peat nose. There's a medicinal tang after a few minutes
P : Pepper first here, followed by the peat. The pepper is the dominant thing for me. No sherry here so I must have mistaken the nose .
F : Is long again, but not as long as the map label 10. Strong peat is back and so is the pepper but the peat is dominant.
N : Much softer peat than the younger versions. And this time there's a fruitiness behind it with the malt much easier to detect too. This a much gentler experience than the 10 or 12
P : Again a gentler peat but still with a peppery flavour. Nice oaky spices in there after a few seconds. Then the peat comes back and continues into the
F : which has loads of peat and some more of the fruity notes. Spicy malt in there too.
This is a superbly well-balanced dram. If Talisker gets even better as it gets older, I wish I had some 20 or 25yo!
