In the previous review I mentioned that the Caol Ila Natural Cask Strength had some Talisker moments (white pepper), so after looking on my lectern my eye fell on another Diageo Natural Cask Strength release of this 8yo Talisker that needs to be reviewed, for by now, obvious reasons. The Caol Ila is a NAS bottling (No Age Statement) and this Talisker has been stated, proudly I might add, as an 8yo, make for an excellent comparison. Mind you, in 2018 low numbers were more or less scoffed at. The public preferred funny named Whiskies over something with an age statement with a low number. Funny because a funny name allowed for even younger Whiskies to be used. Not a lot is known about the Whiskies that went into the different batches of the Caol Ila Natural Cask Strength, but we can be pretty confident (after tasting) it is made with Whiskies between 5 and 10yo, probably more 8yo to 10yo than 5yo to 7yo or is it?. Back in 2018 this release was quite popular, because even at this young age the Talisker was deemed excellent and it gained momentum. Many friends I have that dabble a bit in Whisky, purchased multiple bottles of this, as did I.

Color: Light gold.

Nose: Funky and deep. Very different from the Islay Whiskies reviewed before. Definitely a breath of fresh island air. A much wider stage. Deep, big and bold. Not quite sure how to describe this deepness, what is it and where is it coming from? Is it the deep char? If it is, it doesn’t smell burnt at all, an aroma one might expect. Lets start out with and old piece of dried out toffee, but don’t think about its sweetness, it’s everything you smell from such an old piece apart from the sweet bit. Old dried out swampy wood. Deep overripe fruit, but again of the dried out kind. No fresh smelling notes apart from the sea air. More wood now, apart from the swamp wood, indeed a charred note now. This smells very mature and in now way I would have guessed this is from an 8yo Whisky. Amazing. Sometimes a whiff of a more farmy note whiffs in and whiffs out again. Definitely not an easy of entry level Whisky. Definitely a special release. Part of the deepness seems to come from an acidic (not ripe) red fruit note. Quite complex 8yo if you ask me. After some breathing, slightly more balance, only slightly since it already started out very well balanced. More dusty now. Some of the yellow fruity notes I called over-ripe, are really borderline ripe, right before its going bad actually (now not dried). So some unique funky organics going on in this one. Throw all these strange aroma’s together and you get something really amazing. The wood emerged late, yet even later comes this earthy and funky peat note, mixed in with the funky fruit. With this also a smoky note which is unique as well to this Whisky since it als smells slightly soapy (not perfumy).

Taste: Aiaiai, this tastes so good right out of the gate. This has Taliskers trademark white pepper, it has also a very nice sweetness going on, and the smoke is upfront, where in the nose it was almost coming in as an afterthought, probably pushed back by the plethora of funky aromatics going on there. Talking about funky aromatics, these yellow very overripe fruits come next, complete with the acidic bits attributed to red fruit above and a more nutty and clay like note. It is almost 60% ABV, but in no way does it show that, where the Caol Ila was pretty alcohol upfront, this most definitely isn’t. I guess the Caol Ila might be younger than this 8yo. This is quite the Whisky. See, “8” is only a number, don’t make assumptions based on that (nor on the colour of Whiskies, as people often tend to do). The fruit in general beautifully rise to the occasion towards, and in, the aftertaste. After comparing this one to the Caol Ila, the nuttiness of this Talisker is amplified, interesting. With extensive breathing this only becomes better and better. Still, not an easy Whisky to “decipher”. It still has some elements in its depth I have a hard time to put my finger on.

I guess since this one turned out so well (also as in becoming popular and selling well), it did carve out a niche for Whiskies with a low age statement as well as convincing Diageo they could issue more Talisker 8yo’s in the annual Special Releases, as they promptly did in 2020, one that has some issues), 2021 and 2024. (2019 was a 15yo, 2022 was an 11yo, 2023 was a NAS and 2025 was a 14yo). Nobody in these modern times of ours was afraid anymore of a 8yo. For me both young Diageo offerings are hits in my book. Compared both head-to-head, Tha Caol Ila is so wonderfully Islay, and very different. Tasting them side by side their difference brings the best out of both of them. Good to have them open at the same time. The Talisker is definitely the more mature and more complex of the two, it very much shows the youth of the Caol Ila, so I guess the Caol Ila maybe does fall into the 5yo to 7yo bracket. I wonder why it got discontinued so quickly, maybe sales weren’t all that good? The Caol Ila emphasized the American oak vanilla of the Talisker. Comparing is always fun and cab show you things you might have missed earlier.

Points: 89