Talisker 6 Years Old 2008 Cask #DMG 10699 (Douglas McGibbon)

Bottled by Douglas McGibbon, this Talisker, a 6 year old Skye malt from 2008, drawn from cask DMG 10699 and bottled at 46%. Talisker was built in 1831 at Carbost by Loch Harport, beneath the Cuillin hills, and it remains Skye's most famous distillery. The tall wash stills carry U shaped lyne arms with purifier pipes, and the spirit runs into worm tubs.

It was drawn off stills whose looped lyne arms and worm tubs build a rich, oily spirit, from peated malt, for a smoky, coastal spirit with a chilli kick. Ex-Bourbon casks held the spirit, soft oak that lets the peat and pepper lead. At a youthful age the smoke runs bold and the brine bright. Coastal warehousing gives the malt its mineral, sea spray lift. An old visitors book records guests calling since the turn of the last century. Medium peated malt from Glen Ord gives the smoke, the water from the Hawk Hill springs. After a stillhouse fire in 1960, the five stills were rebuilt as exact replicas.

Reduced to 46%, it is mellow. A maritime smoke with a peppery bite sit over a gentle vanilla under the smoke. It is rich and smoky, the brine and oak well matched. A long, warming, peppery finish lingers. This is the maritime malt made by the sea on Skye.