Talisker Neist Point

A course in cask magic.

The Talisker Distillery resides in Carbost, a village on the Isle of Skye. Two brothers, Hugh and Kenneth MacAskill, founded the distillery in 1830. In all these years Talisker's distillation method has remained unchanged. In fact, when the entire distillery burnt to the ground in 1960 they rebuilt everything back to the original specs.

Talisker is owed by Diageo but is operated by United Distillers and Vintners and those guys do a good job keeping the mealy corporate hands off of the malt. Today, Talisker is the only distillery on the Isle of Sky — creating a full range of island-style, medium-peated, single malt agings and finished-wood Whiskies. This remote parcel of land sits at the Western tip of Scotland, hanging over the Atlantic Ocean, with the imposing Cuillin hills in the background. It’s picturesque, to say the least.

While we’re on the subject of landscapes, let’s talk about Talisker Neist Point, their latest expression, named after the scenic headland on the Isle’s westernmost shore. By using a variety of Talisker’s finest, rare casks of different ages, this dram delivers an extra-refined experience for all you fans out there. This single malt is bottled at 45,8 % ABV, normally available only through travel retail and carries no age statement. Some of you might frown at the fact that the bottle bears only a name, not a number, but rest assured, this dram is premium through and through.

This Whisky is more than anything a statement on experimentation, research and innovation. The complex combination of younger and older casks of different woods reveals a truly unique flavor experience. And that’s what NAS bottlings like this should really be all about. In the end, it’s the taste that matters. Variety is the spice of life. And lucky for us, we’re truly spoiled for choice.