Trio of Taliskers: 25 yo 45.8% (bottled 2015), 25 yo 57.8% (bottled 2004) and 20 yo 1981/2002 62.0%

We stumbled across sample of a legendary sherried Talisker 20 yo 1981/2002, so small vertical tasting became quite inevitable. 

The whole trio as follows:

Talisker 25 yo bottled 2015 45.8% - in 2011 guys from Talisker reduced the strength of their 25 yo expressions from cask to standard one, let's see if that changed the things. 

Nose: very good, olive oil, salty sea breeze, white pepper and whiffs of camphor.

Taste: oily and peppery, leather and hints of licorice, sweet start developing into drier and oaky finish.

Finish: long, salty and peppery, soft smoke and some oak bitterness in the background. 

Overall: lovely nose, though in my opinion taste and finish lost some power at this strength. Sic transit gloria taliskeria... Very good malt nevertheless, surely recommended. 

Score = 22.5 22 22 22, 89/100!

Talisker 25 yo bottled 2004 57.8% - these were the times when CS 25 yo batch could contain 21 000 (!) bottles. Refill sherry casks. 

Nose: just better, clean, fresh and fruity, tangerines and cream, just a tiny hint of smoke. 

Taste: powerful and pure, salt, pepper, spices, oranges and tangerines, utterly drinkable even at this strength. 

Finish: very long on pepper, salt, oranges and wood. 

Overall: great whisky and take into consideration that I'm actually not a fan of Talisker, other guys from our village put even higher marks. 

Score = 23 22.5 22.5 23, 91/100! 

Talisker 20 yo 1981/2002 62.0% - 9000 bottles produced. 

Nose: tons and tons of sherry influence. Salt, red berries, wood smoke, old leather, hints of Springbank style cheese, prunes. 

Taste: very dense (just check the strength), usual salt and pepper, sour cherries, oranges and oak. 

Finish: extremely long, salty, peppery and oaky, hints of sweet chocolate.

Overall: well, it's a great dram, though current price of about EUR 1300 - 1500 sounds very strange to me, previous sample of 25 yo bottled in 2004 is on the same level. 20 yo 1981/2002 has more sherry and less Talisker than you might be accustomed to.

Comparing these 2 malts I'd say that 25 yo (2004) has better (cleaner) nose, 20 yo has slightly better (powerful) taste and aftertaste. 

Score = 22 23 23 23, 91/100!