For a long time, Talisker was the sole distillery on Scotland’s iconic Isle of Skye. Renowned for the quality of its output, the distillery has rarely changed hands, joining DCL (now Diageo) back in 1916. Despite this, releases were not the most common. An 8 year old was bottled officially and Gordon & MacPhail produced what are now classic and sought after vintage bottlings under official license from the distillery. When a 10 year old expression became a founding pillar of United Distillers’ Classic Malts range in 1988, the popularity of the distillery exploded, and it is now one of the most revered and exported in Scotland.

At the time of release in mid 2019, this was the oldest expression of Talisker ever released.

The Bodega Series is a trilogy of single malts designed to explore the effects of sherry cask finishes on Talisker’s ‘finest’ expressions.

One of 2000 bottles produced.

This one was finished in casks of manzanilla 'La Goya' from Delgado Zuleta's. I believe La Goya is a rather cheap (7,25€ for 75cl at the owners', that's scandalously low), yet excellent manzanilla. Colour: gold. Nose: I find it difficult to tell the Talisker from the manzanilla, as in my book, both liquids do share some similar traits, especially the fresh walnuts, the brine, the flinty smokiness and the clear coastal side. Some wonderful olives and almonds, mint, eucalyptus and a richer Bordeaux Blanc (a Pessac). Splendid. With water: majestic. I'm not always a huge fan of finishings but this time, they created a real ace, the whisky and the wine are tangoing just right. Stunning almondy and lemony smokiness, putty, walnut liqueur, tar liqueur, seawater, brine, and even a wee whiff of acetone that works perfectly well in this context. Mouth (neat): first a sublime spicy fruitcake, then a bitter, tarry, very medicinal richness. Oysters, Worcester sauce, almond milk, cough medicine, some kind of smoked fudge, also several small citrus fruits, kumquats, bergamots, also some tarter lemon caviar or finger lime… With (the tiniest drop of) water: same comments about the manzanilla and the whisky dancing together to perfection. Finish: pretty long! Superb salty, maritime signature. We all know it's the sea that makes Talisker (go to love ad people) but what's sure is that some skilled men and women have been a really big help, including some in Sanlùcar de Barrameda. Comments: what a salty beauty.