Hot on the heels of Talisker Storm comes another no age statement whisky from the very same distillery: Talisker Port Ruighe.

So, what’s the story with Port Ruighe? Wouldn’t you like to know? Well, it’s pronounced Portree, as in the largest town on the Isle of Skye, with ‘Port Ruighe’ being an old Gaelic spelling. The town is based around a large natural harbour, which has been key for business and trade for centuries and latterly has featured some of them there brightly coloured buildings made infamous by a certain children’s television programme. The other thing you need to know is that they have their own top flight (see what I did there) Quidditch team, the Prides, that compete in the British and Irish Quidditch League.

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On Wednesday, the Isle of Skye’s only distillery celebrated the launch of Talisker Storm by bringing the Isle’s weather, in the form of a 25 foot high interactive storm, to the banks of the Thames.

Some people were saying that a certain meteorological legend would be in attendance... So, off I scampered to bear witness as “all of the elements” of Skye’s rugged weather descended upon London: “wind, rain, lightning, fog and thunder”...

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It’s that time of year again - the weather has given up the pretence of caring, the trees are shedding their leaves like a sinking ship sheds ballast, and the sun can’t summon the energy to stay in the sky for longer than is absolutely necessary. Thankfully all is not lost as Diageo are about to release their much anticipated Special Releases Range.

Diageo is a multi-national drinks company that owns twenty-eight working distilleries and the remaining stock of a number of closed ones, and every year they release a selection of limited releases from some of these distilleries.

With such a large portfolio to draw from these whiskies tend to be the cream of the crop and get us whisky geeks slathering at their merest mention [go on, find a whisky geek and mention it, watch it slather…].

So this evening we all trooped to London to taste these high-demand whiskies in the warm and, more importantly, dry confines of The Deck at the National Theatre. Last time I was in this theatre I watched Benedict Cumberbatch (that guy off of Sherlock) prance around the stage as Frankenstein’s monster with nothing but his self-esteem to cover his modesty. This time I came armed with a notebook and pen - ready to record my experience of facing this enormous tackle of whisky. 

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