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Talisker 57º North

Talisker Turbo Charged

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@VictorReview by @Victor

28th Dec 2012

0

Talisker 57º North
  • Nose
    23
  • Taste
    24
  • Finish
    24
  • Balance
    24
  • Overall
    95

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

Talisker 57 Degrees North is bottled at an ABV to match the latitude of the distillery on the Isle of Skye. At this ABV the whisky is at "Special Strength", not precisely at Cask Strength, but is most likely at very close to Cask Strength. The reviewed bottle was opened November 22, 2012, and now only 1/4 remains. Tasting notes are from the bottle opened for two weeks. 57 D North is a rare bottling to find in North America, and the reviewed bottle was hand-carried to me from the UK. I was recently able to replenish supply of it at an auto duty free in Ontario

Nose: intense penetrating vanilla, intense black pepper and briney peat, some smoke, and a nice sweet underlying malt. Beautiful

Taste: on the palate smoke and both sharp peat and sweet peat are stronger than in the nose. There are lovely malted barley flavours, sweet honey-licorice, the Talisker pepper-brine, and a slight hint of wine-finish flavours. This is glowing and resonant, but the bottle had to be open for two weeks to get this way

Finish: long honey-peat-smoke-brine. If you like these flavours together, then this is terrific

Balance: for me this Talisker 57 Degrees North really works and is a real treat. It is muscular and aggressive, which Big Flavours lovers are likely to enjoy. Stay away from this if you don't like peppery brine, peat and smoke emphasised. Pay attention to making sure that your bottle is fully opened up before apparaising it, though. On Day One of opening this would only have rated 86 from me.

N.B. water added a beautiful floral element to the nose and slightly lessened the other flavours. The palate and finish became much sweeter with water, with the smoke diminished, but the sweet component of the peat brought to the fore

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13 comments

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

Awesome review! I can't wait to get my hands on a bottle of it!!

11 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@Squidy, this is "full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes" earthy and not quite the "watching the sun set" refined of, say, Talisker 18. Talisker 57 Degrees North and Talisker 18 are to me for quite different moods, but they are both quite fantastic.

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

Sweet! I haven't got a chance to try the 18 yet, but I will be next weekend if everything goes right!! However from everything I've seen of Talisker they can do no wrong :D

11 years ago 0

@BlueNote
BlueNote commented

A friend gave me a good size sample of this a while ago. Loved it, it's currently top of my wishlist. Agree with you on all counts here @Victor. The 18 is no slouch either. Cheers.

11 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@Squidgy, you might enjoy this, a little mythos in the form of a word picture, right from the bottle label of Talisker 57 Degrees North: "From the storm-lashed coast of the Isle of Skye in Scotland's far north comes a more intense Talisker true to its rugged origins, from specially selected casks. A stronger deeper Talisker that's like looking out to sea with a STORM brewing..."

11 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@BlueNote, I wouldn't have known how much I loved Talisker 57 D North if @Pudge72 hadn't given me a couple of samples of it from his Ontario Talisker 3-pack 20 and 12 months ago, when I first met him. Thanks again, @Pudge! All of the Talisker three-packs down here I've seen have included the Talisker 18 and not the 57 D North. Love the 18, too, bigtime, as I've repeatedly said. I was able to buy a few bottles of Talisker 18 here last year at a very inexpensive price. Prices here have recently more than doubled for Talisker 18 and it is tightly allocated now. Carpe diem, whisky-lovers! You really can not assume that a good deal will be there on that same shelf tomorrow!

11 years ago 0

@BlissInABarrel
BlissInABarrel commented

wow! this one sounds amazing! i want a bottle!!! ^_^ quick, victor, connect me with someone who has the muscle power to get me this bottle! :D

11 years ago 0

@SquidgyAsh
SquidgyAsh commented

@Victor I love that analogy my friend! I'm working my way through a gift pack of whiskies and while I'm loving it, right now it feels like the last 4 or 5 whiskies I've had were all salt and no pepper. Now I REALLY want some peppers in my whisky!!!

11 years ago 0

@YakLord
YakLord commented

I find it interesting that a duty free store in Ontario carries the 57 North, but the LCBO does not, unless it is part of the rapidly disappearing Talisker Collection. I also find it intriguing that the Talisker Collections sold in the U.S. contain the 18yo, not the 57 North. Wonder what the reason for the difference is? We cracked my small bottle of the 57 North as part of a Talisker Vertical on my birthday, and it was every bit as good as @Victor says it is...I didn't even notice the higher ABV, and there was no burn at all...phenomenal stuff!

11 years ago 0

@Bloodaxe
Bloodaxe commented

Lovely review! I can't wait to taste it! :)

11 years ago 0

@PeatyZealot
PeatyZealot commented

Is it the 'middle of the warehouse' 10 year old at near cask strength, or is something else at work here?

11 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

@PeatyZealot, it is hard to say the mix of ages in the 57 North. With no age statement, the distillery has the ability to tweak the whisky any way that they would like. I don't get too concerned about the absence of age statements relative to what I think about the taste of the whisky. After all 95% 30 yo whisky combined with 5% 3 yo whisky is still officially "3 year old whisky". Does calling it "3 year old whisky" tell the tale accurately? Not at all.

Have you sampled any of the 57 North yet, @PeatyZealot?

11 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

Talisker 57 Degrees North, second bottle, 1 Litre, from Duty Free in Ontario. This second bottle at first didn't come together like the first 700 ml UK bottle which was reviewed, above. This bottle would have rated only low 80s from me for quite awhile. It is now open for about 2 years and is coming more into its own. I score this second bottle into the 90s now for the first time. 91 or 92. I can now exhale, seeing this improvement, because I bought 3 of these 1 Litre Duty Free bottles. It is GREAT having your Talisker at 57% ABV.

9 years ago 1Who liked this?