Talisker 1955-1995 - Gordon & MacPhail - CASK 52.9% - Single Cask 1314 - Half Bottle

Founded in 1830, Talisker’s medium-peated whisky perfectly expresses the rugged terrain of the distillery’s surroundings on the western Hebridean Isle of Skye, where it was the only legal distillery for many decades until the recent arrival of Torabhaig.

Talisker had been one of the stars of Scottish Malt Distillers’ portfolio for decades before the launch of the Classic Malts series in 1987 cemented the distillery’s popularity in the modern era. Early examples of Talisker’s single malt were bottled over a century ago by merchants including Berry Brothers and there were numerous official bottlings from around the 1940s onwards.

The old style Talisker's thrillingly savage spirit has been tamed this century, regrettably, but the extraordinary early cask strength Special Release Taliskers bottled between 2001-2010 still offer great value at auction.

Founded in Elgin as a merchant grocer and wine and spirits wholesaler in 1895, Gordon & MacPhail are one of the oldest independent whisky bottlers in Scotland. Co-founder James Gordon owned shares in Longmorn, Strathisla and Glen Grant, and Gordon & MacPhail were soon bottling officially licensed single malts from several distilleries and sending empty casks from their wine business to be filled with new make spirit and returned for maturation in their Elgin warehouses.

Gordon & MacPhail pioneered high strength single malts at 100 proof (57%) in the 1950s, and in 1968 the company launched Connoisseurs Choice, one of the first integrated ranges of small batch independent whisky bottlings. After finally becoming distillers themselves with the purchase of Benromach in 1993, in 2010 Gordon & MacPhail bottled the first 70-year-old single malt whisky (a Mortlach 1938) and in 2020 the company released the first ever 80-year-old whisky: Glenlivet 1940.