Following on from its release to main markets of two new NAS (no-age statement) whiskies earlier this year – Storm and Port Ruighe – Talisker has recently made further in-roads in this arena in the duty free space.
The Talisker Dark Storm rolled out at airports at the end of June and is meant to be “the smokiest whisky produced by the remote island distillery.”
To get this heavy-duty rich effect, the whisky is comprised of malt matured in heavily charred American oak casks. It has been bottled at the relatively punchy 45.8% and is being sold in 1L bottles at a cost of around £42.
I was sent a sample, which I’ve managed to try and here are my thoughts on it:
Talisker Dark Storm: 45.8%:
(c): Amber
(n): Loads of nutty caramel at first, before oranges, a bit of salt, licorice and brown sugar – it’s a powerful, demanding dram but less intensely smoky than I was expecting. Quite appealing, I’d think, even for someone who was a bit unsure about peaty drams.
(p): Creamy and filled with hazelnuts – really earthy, nuttiness to this one for me. Then a bit of sea salt, some nougat, vanilla and embery smoke. Rich, spicy, smoky – bold!
(f): Dark chocolate
In conclusion, I was expecting it to be fiercer in its peat levels, in all honesty, but I really enjoyed the vanilla and chocolate influence that was present in this dram, possibly because I don’t tend to love super-medicinally peaty whiskies. Don’t get me wrong, there was still a lot of earthy smoke, a fact which lent balance to the sweetness and made it stand up. A great whisky for a pudding replacement.
Nice write-up on the Dark Storm. I recently attended a tasting where we had the Talisker 18, Talisker Distiller’s Edition, and the Talisker Dark Storm.
We were surprisingly disappointed by the 18yr. It took some water to open up, and even then it was just okay. The Distiller’s Edition did a bit better, but not fantastic.
However, we all thoroughly enjoyed the Dark Storm. And what a bargain. A fantastic expression at an amazing price. You just have to get to a duty free store that carries it.
Interesting. I have usually loved the 18YO but haven’t had it in a little while so would be good to compare and contrast to what I’ve had in the past. Glad you enjoyed the Dark Storm!
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