Talisker 25 Year Old Bot 2005

Thanks for a great review @Victor. I've been meaning to get my hands on this for a while but just can't seem to (at a decent price, that is). Looks like I'll have to befriend @Nock pretty quickly - I believe there's only half left!

How would you compare it to the 57 North? Seems like a similar flavor profile and almost exactly the same ABV. Any thoughts?

Great to hear from you @MaltActivist! Like you, I am a very big fan of Talisker 57 Degrees North. I would say that the 2005 Talisker 25 yo comes across as more refined than the 57 D North...you can really taste the age here. On the other hand 57 D North seems to me more robust and aggressive. I love the brute power of 57 Degrees North. The 2005 bottling of Talisker 25 yo impresses me with its beauty, dignity, and refinement; Talisker 57 Degrees North just sweeps me away in a way in which I like to be swept away. 57 North is a bigger more overwhelming experience, I would say.

Excellent! I had a 25yo at a bar in Edinburgh but I don't recall the bottling date (given I worked my way through the Talisker range that evening, I don't recall very much at all!)

@Victor, have you tasted Talisker 18 before? How does the 25 compare? Some people seem to like the 18 better. Thanks for the awesome review! I think it's interesting that some reviewers say the 25 is "farmy" kind of like Brora.

I've tasted the 18 a few times in bars, but never the 25. Almost snagged a 25 for $135 but I would have had to drive over an hour each way. I've always kind of regretted that I didn't just make the drive and rent a room at the beach (where the store was located). I was just too busy at the time grading essays (I'm a community college writing instructor). I've got a few 18's that I haven't opened yet. I snagged those for $78 a piece back in the day.

@rigmorole, thank you for joining in. Oh sure, I've commented several times on Connosr at greatly liking the Talisker 18 yo. I include it on my profile page list of favourite whiskies, and I've stockpiled several bottles of Talisker 18 for future consumption.

It is important to note that distillery bottled Talisker 25 yo comes in different year releases, which vary quite a bit in ABV, from 45.8% to 58.1%. I expect that there is some noteworthy variation among these various releases, but I only have experience with this 2005 release Talisker 25 yo.

Comparing 2005 Talisker 25 yo (db) to Talisker 18, the additional wood influence is obvious in the 25 yo. I would describe both the barleymalt component per se and the overall effect of the flavours of the 25 yo as more vivid and defined than those of the 18 yo, which always leave me with a soft warm fuzzy glow.

As to the "farmy" quality which you enjoy, I suspect that you'd find this 2005 Talisker 25 to be one step into that camp, but without the same strength of that effect which you find in Brora.

@rigmorole, I forgot to address one point: I like Talisker 18 and 25 yo approximately equally. Which I would prefer to drink at any given time would be a matter as to whether at that time I wanted a rounder or more sharply focused experience.