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Monday 9 February 2009

Time for Afternoon T? The Skye's the limit.



'Gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight gonna grab some afternoon delight, 
My motto's always been; when it's right, it's right, why wait until the middle of a cold dark night...'

4pm on a rainy Saturday.  One of the greatest comedies ever committed to celluloid, Anchorman has just finished on BBC One and i'm still howling with laughter. The 'Sex Panther' scene really needs no introduction. If you haven't had a chance to see this film yet, your life is almost certainly incomplete and some of this review probably won't make a whole lot of sense, but all the more reason to rent it out!

Anyway, 'time to musk up' and select my own little 'afternoon delight'. Whilst Will Ferrell has, in my opinion, never managed to reprise the genius of Ron Burgundy, the particular distillery i'm about to enjoy, never ceases to amaze and excite. Talisker's recent bottling's have seen a tremendous consistency and in a lateral Talisker tasting we conducted last year, we were pretty much blown away by the FOCM 12 yo, classic 18 yo and the 57 Degrees North, the limited duty free bottling. 

Our good friend Tim Forbes (check his rockin' blog too) recently stunned us with an older bottling of 20 year old, which for me, set the bench mark of the distillery bottlings I have tried. Perhaps now is the time to see if that lofty crown can be stolen away ...

Talisker 25 year old - 2008 distillery bottling - 54.2% abv - 70cl

Nose: Brittle candied ginger, rich sweet treacle sponge, a faint whiff of something lightly peated, seaweedy rock pools and soft wine like notes.  wonderful, elegant and certainly not as heavy as the other distillery expressions. 

Palate: Really rich and oily with notes of black coffee, fudge, slightly dry cedar, spiced notes and a light medicinal note right at the end.  Again, not craggy and windswept like the '57 Degrees North' and considerably more mellow than the 18.  With a small addition of water, more wonderful sweetness comes through.

Finish: That's more like it...some classic peppery Talisker, as the palate dries out.  Lovely, lengthy and elegant.  

Overall:  Perhaps this expression is a sign of things to come.  Not Talisker gone all shy and retiring, but slightly more refined and delicate.  Some Tali fans will perhaps find this more polite than they're used to, but i'm all for some 'diversity'... something Ron Burgundy would certainly NOT agree with.  

As the last drops flow from the glass to my lips, I can't help but recite probably THE defining line from the film and- perhaps a maxim for life itself; 

' I love scotch.  Scotchy scotch scotch. Mmmm, mmm, mmm, There it goes, down into my belly'.    
For more 'Burgundyisms', click here...