Salty Whiskys

There is definitely salt in Caol Ila... but because of the peat. It is less prominent than in the drams you mentioned. I love those ones too.

Besides what you mentioned Oban is often found to be salty too.

At a recent tasting they had the Tobermory 10 year old. All of us present at the tasting found it to be a stageringly salty whisky. For the other half a dozen people this was a trifle unwelcome, however I loved it. Interestingly, looking at the reviews on this site, nobody who has reviewed it here has mentioned any particular saltiness, so maybe it is something that came out in a particular batch, or in the most recent years?

For me this defn. depends on my palette on a given day. I've found Lagavulin and Laphroaig to be salty sometimes.

I'll second the Oban, its my go to scotch when I'm away from the coast and get feeling home sick. I was walking the dog on the beach the other day and the salt spray on my lips made me think about how nice it would be to have a dram of Oban to warm me up.

I found Talisker 10 to be rather salty, but not so much so that it ruined balance.

I had a Glenrothes 12 yo and it was definately dominated by salt but was very fresh. I found it lovely. I will get clarification on which one exactly but that may take time. I will be getting Oban 14 soon so hopefully that will have some salt.

I've just tasted Bruichladdich Links "17th Hole" for the first time and I found it quite salty. I must admit I found it a little bland overall so it won't be one of my favourites, but might be worth a try if it's saltiness you're after.

Balblair and AnCnoc.

Maybe a bit late, but if you haven't tried Tobermory 10 yet, you should! I absolutely love it. I haven't had much whiskies of older age, but among the standerd scotch single malts (10-12y), this one is my favourite!

One of my favorites is the Old Pulteney 12 yr, and yes there's a noticable amount of salt/brine on the nose, and palate.

When others have mentioned Lagavulin 16 has a touch - I then was able to find it - however with the abundance of smoke the salt can be tough to find.

I've noticed it in both the Oban 14, and Clynelish 14 - however I still prefer the Old Pulteney 12 over those two.

I can't think of any other with a touch of salt?

I'd like to add Scapa 16yo, Isle of Jura 10yo, Highland Park 12yo and I guess others by these distilleries. Maybe also some Bruichladdichs.

In my limited experience I found Old Pulteney 12 and Clynelish 14 to be the saltiest whiskies, or better the ones in which salt was most prominent. As others have mentioned, smokey and peaty malts tend to be briny as well, but the salty flavors are somewhat overpowered by peat and smoke.

I have to agree with @Wills on the Scapa shout, i had a bottle earlier this year and there was a definite salty taste to it, I think that was one of the reasons it really stood out to me at Whisky Live London!

Highland Park 12 is a very nice one indeed. I have a bottle right here. I have to check out that Scapa 16y then, thanks :)

Old Pulteney 12 immediately comes to mind. Apart from that Talisker and Bruichladdich Islay Barley (this year's version, haven't tried the 20004 version) also have a remarkable, but welcome saltiness.

I have found Talisker 10yo. to have just the right amount of salt and with the salt 'tang' the sensation of standing on a wind swept beach at low tide with all the attending aromas incl. the odd dead fish - An experience not to be missed; truly a dram for 'Heroes', yet everything wonderfully balanced and surprisingly sweet.

Cheers!

I'll second Oban and Old Pulteney for saltiness. Can't believe no one has mentioned Springbank as well! :)

For me, Talisker 10 most definitely. Funny that Old Pulteney 12 has been mentioned here a few times, I've never found it to be salty - perhaps a pinch (as you get with coastal malts) but nowhere near the quantity of brine found in Talisker 10.

Talisker and Old Pulteney for me! Both yummy and both reasonably priced!

@systemdown I gotta try the Talisker 10 yr once again...A few years ago I purchased the "Classic Malt Pack" (3 bottles - 200 ml each - Lagavulin 16 yr, Caol Ila 12 yr, and Talisker 10 yr)...For whatever reason I didn't care alot for the Talisker - maybe it was a bad bottling?

Anywho - I should give it another go since I really do like briny/salty/smokey whisky.

Last week we had Bowmore Tempest batch 2 which someone described as having a nose of salted elastoplast.

We were very lucky to follow that up with an Old Bothwell Port Ellen, which was also a delightful briny dram.

@systemdown I find the "salty" flavor stands out a bit more with the Old Pulteney 12 yr since I find it to be a bit less complex than the Talisker 10 yr.

That said - the bottle of Talisker 10 yr that I purchased yesterday def has a salty tinge to...What surprised me is the pronounced olive presence on both the nose, and palate - along with the smoke/salt/pepper.

Springbank 10yr, and strangely enough, 10 months after it was opened, my bottle of Penderyn Aur Cymru (the original Madeira Finish).

If you wanna a cheap bottle with a nice hint of salt, you don't have to miss Arran 10 yo

@YakLord The Penderyn is one of my favourites since a few weeks. Bought a bottle after tasting it at a whisky event. I know that when I open it, I could never leave it standing there for 10 months.

Old Pulteney is the one that sprang to my mind too but I had a dram of my Bowmore Tempest (Batch 1) and maybe it was because I'd been reading these posts but I got a very strong salty note to it. Only when I sipped it neat though, when I added water to it the other flavours seemed to expand past the saltiness.