Talisker Scotch Whisky

Talisker Scotch whisky distillery was built in 1830 by Hugh and Kenneth MacAskill and is the only distillery on the Isle of Skye.

Hugh was a senior tenant farmer, who leased land to others and had acquired the lease of Talisker House.

After the brothers' deaths the distillery ownership passed to the partnership of Roderick Kemp, a wine and spirits merchant and Grigor Allan the Procurator Fiscal of Morayshire, who introduced significant sums of money in rebuilding and refitting the distillery between 1880 and1887.

In 1892, Roderick Kemp bought The Macallan distillery in Speyside and Grigor Allan became sole owner of Talisker.

In 1898 Talisker was merged with Dailuaine to form the Dailuaine-Talisker Distilleries Ltd. This company invested heavily into the Talisker distillery by extending the premises. They built a pier with a tramway to link it to the distillery and provided houses to accommodate the employees and excise officer.

In 1928 Talisker ceased triple distillation in preference to double distillation.

The distillery was partly rebuilt in 1960 after a fire. A simple lapse of concentration led to the leaving open of a valve on the No. 1 spirit still, which was at the time coal-fired. As the spirit in the still reached boiling point a disastrous over spill allowed spirit to reach the flames below. The resulting fire burned down the stillroom. The distillery was rebuilt meticulously around exact copies of the old stills.

In 1972.The distillery's floor maltings were demolished in favour of buying the malt from Glen Ord.

Talisker Tasting Notes

Distillery Style

Nose : Coastal rock pools, smoke, pepper.

Palate : Full bodied. Peppery, smoky, spicy and coastal.

Finish : Big peppery finish.