Scotch

Whisky Review: Talisker Glacial Edge 45-Year-Old

OVERALL RATING

8
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Tasting Notes

About:

Aged 45 years and finished in ice-fractured oak casks; bottled at 49.8% ABV; priced at $5,000.
Appearance:
A gorgeous golden amber in glass reflects the decades of time passed in the cask. Legs in glass are of good quality, and viscosity is excellent.
Nose:
Rich maritime notes drift into my nose as I sniff, evoking memories of days at the beach. There’s sea salt, butterscotch, warmed apple, and pineapple floating along in the current with honey and apricot.
Palate:
Slight hints of mineral and salinity play over my tongue, joined by a rich sweetness of tropical fruits and apple pie. Some warmed Hawaiian rolls, grape lollipops, and butterscotch weave their way into the fray as well. This is a very bizarre but extremely appealing flavor mix – the influence of the ice-fractured finishing, perhaps?
Finish:
It goes down with a bit of brine and minerality, though not in an I just swallowed a bunch of seawater kind of way. It leaves a dry note in the back of my throat that holds out for a long time.
Comments:
Overall, I really liked this whisky and its unorthodox cask-finishing approach. In considering all factors, price included, however, it doesn’t fully align with getting a closer to perfection score. It is appealing but not appealing enough to match its dollar value.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was either bought as a sample by The Whiskey Wash or provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. Per our editorial policies, this in no way influenced the outcome of this review.

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti is the founder of The Whiskey Wash, an award-winning whiskey lifestyle website dedicated to informing and entertaining consumers about whisk(e)y globally. As a whisk(e)y journalist, expert, and judge, he has written extensively about the subject, been interviewed in various media outlets, and provided tasting input on many whiskeys at competitions.

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