BAMS: the Bay Area Malt Society

For April we chose two bottles that were highly touted in Michael Jackson's handbook on single malt Scotch.

We picked the Highland Park 12-year, a malt from the northernmost distillery in Scotland that is self-described as "heathery" and described by Jackson as a good "all-arounder," and the salty, aggressive Talisker 10-year from the sole distillery on the Isle of Skye.

[Note: the following tasting notes are not necessarily the opinions of the BAMS elders or the owners of this website.]

Highland Park 12 year tasting notes:

Piny and grassy--like a grass made from pine. -BC
Clean nose with a touch of smoke. A good middle ground for both Macallan and Laphroaig fans--even better with a splash.
Indeed an all-arounder: Molasses nose, clearly smokey but not too much. Pleasant saltwater taffy sweetness with a ginger beer bite. -JD
Honey, pepper after what I thought was the finish. -CT
A bit smokey. My tongue burned a bit on the aftertaste. Well balanced, but a bit harsher than I'd like. -Dan
Vanilla nose; smooth to the belly. -Paul
Tasty, tart tingle. Sensually smokey. -Hansou
Maple syrup nose. Bacon salt attitude.
Like Macallan, but lighter, and with strong peaty, smokey notes. Diet Macallan. Macallan Lite.
Forest BBQ.
Buttery.
Smokey.
Half smoke/half spicy.

Talisker 10-year tasting notes:

Deceptively mild and charming nose, but the wolf at the door presents itself in a smokey, spicy mouthful of sea urchin and a Novocaine finish. Sinister and seductive. -JD
Very salty and peaty, a little too harsh for me. -Dan
Very salty mouth
Oceanic, reminiscent of soy sauce.
Salty!
Fire, salt, spicy morning dew.
3rd grade paste.
Very spicy, mellower taste underneath that.
Strong, but not overpowering. Very nice, thick texture. I don't think any of the other whiskeys we've tried this year have had such an interesting texture.
Robust and rocky. Full and foggy. Looong taste.
Metallic, stingy, full, leather.