The location
Talisker lies in the east of the Scottish island Skye. Skye is the largest island of the Inner Hebrides and the second largest island of Scotland (after Lewis and Harris). Unlike other Scottish islands like Islay, Skye only harbours one distillery: Talisker. This distillery is located at the edge of Carbost, a small village in the west of Skye. Only 10,000 people live on the island with an area of 1,656 km².
The history of Talisker
The distillery was founded in 1830 by Hugh and Kenneth MacAskill. In 1857, it was leased to Donald McLellan who had to declare bankruptcy in 1863. The licence was passed on to the Glaswegian John Anderson who claimed: “Not a whisky gets a better reputation in the market.”
In the 1880s, the distillery was renewed for the first time. This also had to do with a change in owners: The new managers Alexander Grigor Allan and Roderick Kemp already had plenty of experience selling spirits and were able to increase the production volume to 40,000 gallons per year. In 1882, however, Kemp sold his part of the company and used the money to buy the Speyside distillery Macallan.
Fortunately, Kemp’s exit didn’t affect the trajectory of Talisker negatively. With Thomas Mackenzie, a new CEO, Allan led the distillery until his death. In 1895, Mackenzie decided to merge with the distillery Dailuaine. This and the successful business decisions of the previous years resulted in Talisker becoming one of the bestselling Scotch single malts at the end of the 19th century.
Of course, the growing revenue was reinvested into the distillery. This meant an expansion of the worker lodgings and the construction of a distillery-owned tramway. After MacKenzie’s death in 1916, Talisker was taken over by a syndicate, which included John Walker & Sons as well as John Dewar & Sons.
During the 20th century, the distillery had to close twice. The first shutdown was caused by the war in 1941. Like many other distilleries, Talisker had to cease production to save barely. In 1960, the production house was destroyed by a fire, and it took two years until the house was fully rebuilt. To keep the original Talisker taste for new productions, the new plant was a replication of the original one.
Until 1972, Talisker used its own malting floor. Since then, the company has been purchasing its malt from external sources like many other distilleries. One of their main producers is Glen Ord Central Maltings from the Highlands.
Today, Talisker belongs to United Distillers & Vinters LTD, and therefore to Diageo.
How is Talisker whisky produced?
In the beginning, Talisker whisky was triple distilled like many other whiskies at that time. After the triple distillation ban in 1928, the distillery converted its processes to double distillation, which is still how Talisker is produced today. The distillery boasts a total of five stills – three spirit stills and two wash stills. What’s special about the distillation process is that old condenser coils are used instead of modern condensers. According to the producer, they create a more full-bodied aroma that would be impossible to achieve with modern condensers.
Since the malt that is used comes with a relatively high amount of phenol (25 ppm), Talisker whisky presents very smoky. This effect is strengthened by the water, which comes from springs that flow over peat.
The Talisker assortment
For a long time, Talisker held on to its small but excellent standard single malt releases. However, over the last 10 years, the range has been increased substantially. Today, Talisker offers many new, interesting releases that come without age statements, including Talisker Skye, Talisker Storm, Talisker 57° North, Talisker Port Ruighe and Talisker Neist Point. Many releases are sold in elegant boxes that are perfectly suited for gifting.
Talisker at Gustero
At Gustero, we only offer you the best of the best. That’s why we also offer a special selection of exciting Talisker whiskies in our shop. It was especially important to us to also offer special limited editions besides the classic standard releases. This means we carry something for every taste – no matter if you’re a real Talisker fan or are completely new to the brand. If you haven’t had a chance to try the delicious Skye whisky yet, we recommend the Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky 10 Years, which convinces with salty sea aromas and a delightful chili spiciness.
