Talisker Distillery, Scotland     founded: 1830 | active
For more detailed mapping of the distilleries in the area from our whisky map page, use this link.

It seems somewhat of a trend, but creamy puddings are here to stay: cheesecake, rice pudding, lemon curd, toffee popcorn, (stolen) vanilla and apple pie. But where should we eat the puddings? let's go outside amongst singed heather, carrageen moss, cut grass and sea salt. That singed saltiness is a perfect setting for some smoked fish from Sweden and once it's ready, it'll be time for a spring clean in a smokey shed. Cockles and chlorine give imagery of two swimming pools, one infested, one clean. Finally, there's some apricot creeping in and an alcoholic hit in the reminiscence of Hot Toddies.

Oh dear. I think things got a bit out of hand... Apparently tastes include SPUNK (jizz), PR@WNS!!!, the lack of fish and 'like standing on the side of the road under the Botswana sun waiting for a car that will never come'. I'm sure you know what we mean. Less crazily, there's also some ketchup, tomato chutney and tomato purée. Mix in some lime and a vague citrus feeling and we're halfway towards a salsa. It's also got a hint of Ricola cough sweets, sea spray bashing against the rocks, salty peanut brittle and olied tarmac in the rain. That sweet brittle could be accompanied by some custard and marzipan to make the world's worst pudding... and getting all festive, there's also a handful of a dates and a Christmas sweetness to finish things off.

It was just about decided this had a medium-long finish, just shy of 'how long can we sing this song?'. I'm not sure why we have random capitalisations, but I'd best keep true to the whisky notes: Ginger, egg custard, candifloss and GINGER BISCUITS give a sweetness to the final moments, whilst peaty copper (?), CHARCOAL and 'a bonfire washed over by the tide then back over again' help to liven things up - washed down with a cup of black tea with several spoons of sugar in. And in a career turn Chris Evans regrets, we finish with Don't Forget Your Satsumas.

~£32 (70cl)

Wikipedia: Chondrus Crispus   |   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chondrus_crispus

We've always scored out of 10 in our group (see number in red box, below), with scores regularly given across that spectrum. The value out of 100 below is adjusted to the scale most commonly used for whisky reviews, to allow for better comparison.

83 / 100