Talisker 1979-1995 - 15 Year Old - Cadenheads Authentic Collection - Single Cask

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.

In 1842 George Duncan established a wine merchant and distillery agency business in Aberdeen. Duncan was joined in the early 1850s by his brother-in-law William Cadenhead, who took over the business after Duncan’s death in 1858, changing the company’s name to Wm. Cadenhead. When Cadenhead died in 1904 the company passed to his nephew Robert Duthie, who developed the spirits side of the business.

Duthie died suddenly in 1931, and employee Ann Oliver was put in charge of Cadenhead’s. Sadly, Oliver’s tenure ended in financial difficulty and on her retirement in 1972 the business was forced to sell its entire inventory. Cadenhead’s was acquired soon afterwards by J & A Mitchell, proprietors of Springbank distillery, who relocated the business to Campbeltown. Cadenhead’s has flourished under Mitchell’s stewardship, releasing many legendary single malt bottlings in the 1980s and 1990s and now has outlets in Edinburgh and London as well as Campbeltown.