Talisker 10 Year Old

Its been a while since I finished my bottle of this, so I can't realy talk specifics, but what I remember very well is how disapointed I was in this whisky. After reading a lot of favourable reviews, I found the Talisker to be one of the more watery and tasteless offerings that I have had since I started to get into whiskys. Not one I would bother paying for again.

This bottle blossomed with honey sweetness after it was open for 7 months. Until then I could not understand why Talisker 10 was so popular. After that, I could easily understand it.

I think I had the same experience with my 200 cc bottle of Talisker. I liked it better toward the end. My uncle had a bottle he got at DF and I had some when the bottle was further down. Also, quite nice. I will need to open my 57 N some time. Does it also require open time?

Very surprising score @Victor considering your love of Talisker 57 North and I find @Peatpete's assertion that it's watery and tasteless absolutely astounding. It just goes to show the wild variation in people's tastes.

@Nozinan, yes, in my experience Talisker 57 Degrees North has needed some air time too. My first 700 ml UK bottle only needed 10-14 days to get to being quite good. My second 1 Litre Duty Free bottle was not what I was expecting until it was very long opened...I think it was somewhere around 2 years. Now that bottle is fabulous, and the sort of whisky which deserves 95 points. So, if you open your bottle and are unimpressed, wait. If still unimpressed, wait longer. If you get tired of waiting for it I will be happy to take it off your hands, but not at LCBO prices. It is well worth waiting for.

@maltmate302, I have seen enormous variations among the various samples of Talisker 10 I have tasted. I am sitting on a sample from a bottle from @Jonathan right now which is the best "initial quality" I have ever experienced from a bottle of Talisker 10. This bottle I reviewed, above, was all salt and pepper, little else, until it was open 7 months. Then BOOM, the honey came out in a very big way. At 7 months that bottle rated 88 for me. Now open 5 years, the whisky has faded a little from that bloom, but only a little. This would still rate around 85 points from me now, which, I notise, is the average rating people on Connosr have given Talisker 10. That bottle of Jonathan's, which I may still also review, is easily an 88-90 point whisky. If I thought they would all taste like that one, I would have bought a second bottle of Talisker 10 for myself by now. The 57 North is so much better than Talisker 10, though, once it comes out to play with some air time.

@Victor actually I find that Talisker 10 is remarkably consistent . I've had a few because it's one of the most affordable malts in the UK and I'd mark them all at 89-90 points. The one's that I've had have all been fairly new bottlings though and I'm unable to give an opinion on Talisker 10 from a few years ago. As for the 57 North I do like it (I have 2 spare bottles) but I find the 10 fuller and more rounded. When I first tasted the 57 North I found it a little bit young and thought that they would have been better off putting a 10 year o!d at 57% but it did improve greatly with air and time.

@maltmate302, yes, there is a very broad range of experiences available with the same whiskies. My guess is that I'd like those bottles of Talisker 10 you have been drinking too. That didn't keep that bottle of Talsiker 10 I bought 5 years ago from being extremely austere and pretty unappetizing.

As for 57 Degrees North, I find that it has a groove into which it has to settle. Once it does, it is great. Before then, not so much...