Country: Scotland
Brand: The Talisman
Type: Blended Scotch Whisky
Age: NAS
ABV: 40 % (My Guess: Around 5 Years)
Colour: Pale Amber/Straw
Nose: I'm going to be completely honest here at the risk of sounding like some spoiled snob which I ain't cause I still love my JW Black or Jim Beam Black on the Rocks. But after having tasted a couple of nice Single Malts lately it's not very rewarding to sniff at the Talisman Blend. Not because it's bad but because it simply lacks interesting aromas. It's very light with a bit of Malt, lots of Grain, some Oak, light Spice, Citrus and hints of Heather and Mango.
Palate: Thin Delivery. Sweet Grain, Caramel, Bitter Refill Wood, Lemon and hints of Heather, Peat and Honey.
Finish: Short and Sugary Sweet with a bit of Toffee, Pepper and Oak.
With a bit of Water the Nose becomes very thin but gains a bit more Fruit and Honey. Palate and Finish however disappear completely.
Rating: 72
Nose: 18.5 - Taste: 18 - Finish: 17.5 - Overall: 18
General Remarks: The Talisman is produced by the Tomatin Distillery that was founded in 1897 and is located close to the A9 Motorway, halfway between Aviemore and Inverness. Over the years it grew very fast and today it is the second largest distillery in scale after Glenfiddich. It is owned by the Japanese Takara Shuzo and Okura Group. A large part of the production (80%) goes into blends like Talisman, Big T and the Antiquary. The Talisman contains around 30% of Malt Whisky and is quite affordable at around 20 US Dollars. Lately the distillery is making an effort to promote its Single Malts as well.
Drinking Experience Neat: Below Average
Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Below Average
Conclusion: There are better Blends at this price level. The Talisman is not interesting enough as a sipping Whisky and on the Rocks you can find better alternatives like the Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark, William Lawson's, JW Red and the cheaper Bourbons. If you want to mix, better use Bourbon!
Jan van den Ende August 18, 2013
12 comments:
Nonsense. A true prize for the price point. Try it again without Ardbeg on the tongue.
Hi there, thanks for commenting! Sorry for the late reply but I was traveling! I actually did try it again recently during my visit to the Tomatin distillery 2 weeks ago without having Ardbeg on the tongue. And my opinion stands. It's only my opinion of course and that's just as good as yours. But there are better Blends around at this price point as mentioned in my review. Cheers!
Jan
I disagree. Excellent blend of Speyside whiskies. They'd sell a ton of it in the USA if they tried.
Hi there, thanks for your reaction. Please leave your name next time. And I disagree with you. That's what makes drinking whisky such a great hobby. You call it an excellent blend of Speyside whiskies but that's hardly the case. as the Talisman only contains around 20% of Malt Whisky, most of which is likely to be Tomatin. That leaves 80% of young (3 Years) industrial Grain Whisky without any flavour. Most cheaper blends usually contain around 30% of Malt whisky and therefore are the better option. But hey taste is very personal so if you like it: Cheers! Jan.
The info am finding is saying it contains 40% malt whiskies not 20,which would be over average not under...
Hi there, thanks for commenting!Can you provide me with the source of that information? I would be glad to modify the text if yoiu are correct. The info that I had at the time (2013)suggested it was somewhere near 20%. The very low price of this blend would sustain that. The usual lower shelf blends are more expensive and usually have a 30-35% Malt content. Look forward to your news! And please leave your first name next time around!
Cheers, Jan.
If you translate this page it's the one i read and claims 40%
A large percentage from their own destilery and aged minimum 5 years, which sounds like a really decent quality bottling for a cheap blend to me...
Now "quality" doesn't necessarily equal great taste so i dont necessarily doubt that part ofvthe review...
/Marcus
Hi Marcus, thanks for commenting! There's obviously something wrong with the translation. The 40% refers to the Alcohol percentage (ABV). And the 5 Years is my guess, it's not a thing I know for sure. And indeed the largest part of the Malt content is Tomatin. Cheers and have a great Sunday!
Jan
I was referring to the information on this link which i seemed to have forgot to put in the comment, thought i did, hmm..
Its in swedish so you will have to google translate or something...
https://www.galatea.se/produkt/the-talisman/
Hi Marcus, Ah I see! I just looked up the link and indeed it's mentioned as you say. I googled a bit further and found alibaba.com Here it says 30/70 and they also mention that the age of the whiskies in the blend is between 3 and 8 years. So my guessof 5 years wasn't so bad. So there's no unanimous position on this. But I will adjust the text to : around 30/70. I unfortunately can't remember where I got the 20/80 info back in 2013. In any case thanks for your help! Cheers, Jan.
Hi! I am a fond buyer of Talisman; not for the blended itself, but it makes for a good whisky sour (and some other whiskey cocktails, but sour is my favourite). Else, I agree with your assessment.
Regards,
Hi Karl, thanks for commenting! It's been a long time since I enjoyed a whisky sour! Time to make one again! Thanks for the tip! Cheers, Jan.
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