Talisker 14-year-old - Molten Seas

The smell of Orava bacon is immediately brutal, the smell is very inviting for lovers of this business. The taste is beautiful, salty, with a background of smoke, vanilla, and spices.

A lot of marketing babble about the volcanic stones. But ultimately, it's a great Talisker. I'd love to see something like that in a 10CS. Nothing complex, but a real smasher for me. Smoky, maritime, slightly sweet, and powerful.

Leaving aside the (completely insane) price tag, this is a really nice bottling that shows its age. Not overly complex, but totally harmonious and very drinkable. I like it! And it's a good thing it wasn't another 8-year-old... ^^

It's not bad. The last few releases haven't exactly been amazing. But I quite like this bottling. Certainly not as much as, say, the 2019. But at least, after the recent releases, it's a step forward. I won't be buying a bottle, though, because it's a bit too expensive for what it offers.

Not too complex but I find it somehow quite drinkable

Tasted at The Whisky Show 2025.

Whisky Live Messe HH, therefore only a short review from memory

Talisker's recognizable style remains, but it's so watered down that one can only regret the 14 years it spent in the barrel. A very weak release.

Classic Talisker special release, if perhaps a bit less aggressive because of the age. Good, but nothing special. Low barrel influence. We have the classic notes of rocks by the sea and spiciness. Not close to be worth it for the price

aroma: soft, rounded, smoke, tobacco, grass, sulfur taste: smooth, rounded, smoke, tobacco, vanilla, BBQ Beautiful, dense smoke, BBQ and saltiness in the background

This was the most satisfying DSR Talisker since the 2019 Special Release.

A satisfying Talisker SR after a while Quite different from the core range, but perhaps that’s exactly why it carries the SR label.

I like it very much!

On the nose, a prominent bonfire smoke, smoked meat, coal, maritime salt, black tea with lemon, shortbread, scones with milk chocolate and salted butter... On the palate, warming sweet peat with honey and lemons, salted aged meat, a pint of stout, then spices, and wood. Finish is rather long, warming, peaty, and salty. I am not sure if I would have guessed the distillery. This Talisker is rather "dirty" and punchy, and less maritime, less "Made by the Sea", more like "made by the stoker in the marine boiler ON the Sea", and I'm not sure I am OK with that.

Review online on 17 November 2025 on www.longpouramour.com My conclusion: "A bit of a weird experience, I prefer my Talisker more straightforward I suppose. The cask treatment does bring something extra to the complete picture, but in the end it mostly makes me yearn for a clean, naked version of a middle-aged Talisker. The creaminess is something you need to enjoy."

It's quite tasty, though the finish is slightly disappointing. But of course, it's far too expensive for what it offers.

1

Slight peat, white pepper, spicy. Nutty salty peat. Feel like becoming more delicious because of ABV.

The nose is nice, but then it goes downhill. Not enough complexity and texture/viscosity to make it worth a while. The asking price of over 150 Euros is straight out laughable. I would not be willing to pay a half of that, IMHO. Good, that I have only got me a 100ml sample.

Lightly spiced and vegetable, honey, mineral, sea breeze, algae, spices, broth, smoked meat, grilled bacon, tart

The nose is initially quite soft and creamy, with notes of melted butter and custard. Then, its coastal character gradually emerges: candied lime, iodine and sea spray, high cliffs overlooking a turbulent sea. Pastry cream and pineapple follow. Burnt wood, slightly bitter, peach pit, and bamboo bark emerge. Waxy peat, liquid honey, floral touches, candied banana, and fragments of quartz and limestone complete the profile. On the palate, it's even more oaky, with rosewater, evanescent vanilla, coconut, and malted grains. Subtle spices include cumin and black pepper. The finish is fairly long, not quite explosive, with notes of black radish, toasted wheat, a pinch of salt, straw, and lychee juice. Overall, it's good, especially the nose and finish, but there's a hesitation between a sweet, honeyed profile and burnt wood. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2025/12/talisker-14-yo-special-release-2025.html

86.5

Expected more from a Talisker 14y cask strength. More intense Talisker profile, some green grapes, and that’s it.

Tasted very briefly at the London Whisky Show. Take my score with a grain of salt.

Beyond the narrative, a lovely round Talisker, fresh, with enough personality to stand out as a special version of the distillery.

It does everything you want from a talisman, from A to Z, though this one is a bit sweeter with its vanilla notes. But still, beautiful stuff!

Tasted 11/25 at Zurich Volkshaus

This is a very difficult whisky for me to evaluate. The reason is simple: if I exclude the finish, I actually find this whisky quite delicious. The nose is good. Soft peat, vanilla, pineapple, and leather flow together without anything becoming overly aggressive. The palate is also enjoyable, with a strong lemon acidity rising above honey and vanilla. Then comes the finish. After comparing my experience with other tasting notes, I came to think that umami is probably the appropriate broader term for the seafood-like character I was experiencing. The more I drank it, the more reasonable that description became. But that first sip really did taste like myeongran-jeot—salted pollock roe. Before dilution, the fishy finish was so strong that for a moment I genuinely did not want to continue drinking. I actually put the glass down for about ten minutes before picking it back up. With time—and especially after adding water—the fishiness subsided considerably, eventually reaching a level where I could interpret it more comfortably as a kind of marine or seafood-like umami. I have previously tasted independent SMWS Caol Ila bottlings with distinctly fishy aromas, but in terms of sheer first-impression intensity, this was on another level. For a while, I genuinely hesitated to pick the glass back up. It reminds me somewhat of an Auchentoshan hand-fill I once tried that had an overwhelmingly urine-like aroma. The palate itself was genuinely delicious, but no matter how good the palate may be, when one unpleasant aroma or finish dominates the entire experience, you begin to hesitate before taking the next sip. Fortunately, the problem here is less severe and much more localized. The nose is good. The palate is good. It is the finish that is strange. And that makes the whole thing even more frustrating. I probably would not pay my own money to order a glass of this at a bar, and I do not think I would buy a bottle either. But if someone offered me a glass, I could certainly sit down and enjoy it with them. There is unquestionably a delicious whisky underneath that peculiar finish. The problem is that, on my first encounter, the finish was intense enough to overshadow almost everything the whisky did well.

Tasted at distillery. Toasted at an high temperature 2000c? Not sure if this influence improves the whisky. Once again overpriced again for what it is. Cask influence provides some fruity influences with vanilla, citrus, fruity and peppery burnt orange and tannins, and a hint of caramel. Short finish of burnt caramels. Undoubtably a quality malt, but not value for the price asked.

It does deliver on the coastal, peppery Talisker profile.

After last year's 'stone-spun and re-toasted finish' we've now got a Talisker that is 'finished in American oak casks toasted by the heat of volcanic rocks from Skye'. What do they smoke at Diageo? Anyhow it is a decent Talisker that delivers on the palate.

Quite restrained for a Talisker. The main impression is sweetness.

Love Talisker! And love this whisky, long, warm, balanced, some seast, fruit. Wonderful!

Salty-sweet wood notes, maritime yet earthy – this toaster seems to have worked. Delicious for a maximum of 90 euros.

While it is hard to find Talisker’s classic identity here, the whisky shows little to criticise in terms of overall execution and balance.

I had it in a series in Krakow for a tasting as it was probably the weakest of the lineup, but it's not a bad shot.