Talisker 1978 Samaroli Sherry Wood / Curved Distillery Label

A beautifully coloured bottling of Talisker from Silvano Samaroli, distilled in 1978 and bottled in 1992. This is part of series of classic labels, affectionately termed as the 'Curved Distillery Name' series, released between 1986 and 1992.

For a long time, Talisker was the sole distillery on Scotland’s iconic Isle of Skye. Renowned for the quality of its output, the distillery has rarely changed hands, joining DCL (now Diageo) back in 1916. Despite this, releases were not the most common. An 8 year old was bottled officially and Gordon & MacPhail produced what are now classic and sought after vintage bottlings under official license from the distillery. When a 10 year old expression became a founding pillar of United Distillers’ Classic Malts range, the popularity of the distillery exploded, and it is now one of the most revered and exported in Scotland. As such, independent bottlings like this are scarce, and particularly sought after when they appear.

This was one of the later releases, and one of the last where Samaroli was still in business with Aberdeen bottlers R.W. Duthie (their commitments to Cadenhead's were so time consuming by the early 1990s that this brought an end to the partnership).

Samaroli are perhaps Italy's most revered independent bottler of Scotch whisky. With an impeccable taste in single cask whiskies, and an eye for aesthetics (if not English spelling at times!), founder Silvano Samaroli is regarded by many as a visionary. Since his passing in 2017, the company has been run by his friend Antonio Bleve, who continues his tradition of high quality releases. Many of Silvano’s early bottlings occupy deserved spots on the pantheon of all-time whisky greats.

One of 1,572 bottles.