This eight-year-old blend from Ian Macleod has been dubbed Isle of Skye, with the blend based around malt whisky from the Islands and Speyside. Particularly that famous whisky distillery on the Isle of Skye! The blend is very well regarded among whisky critics, making it something of a bargain!
Quite smoky on the nose, with crème anglaise, digestive biscuits, and hints of cocoa powder.
Sweet and creamy with gooey sticky toffee pudding, gingerbread, fruitcake, and sherried spices among a little more smoke and sea.
Nutty and spicy, with almond oil and black pepper.
For the price how can you go wrong, omitting the whiskey snobs who can't see past a malt that is. Barring my wee cousin the epitome of affordable snobbery.
Had a dram of Isle of Skye last night in a bar in Forres ,I only drink Isle of Skye but it seems to have change its flavour or it was not Isle of Skye that was in the bottle. In fact my friends that was with me said it seems to have changed its flavour.
I normally only drink Isle of Skye whisky, but I have found a change in the taste, in fact its darker in colour and seems to be more malt tasted. Its a pity because I have stopped drinking it, Black bottle made the same mistake about 2 years ago and a lot of people stopped drinking it. My policy is if its selling well dont change it.
It may have changed in the last year or 2; but could be my palate that's altered. Less character and less smoke: Basically less Talisker. Taking half a star off compared to last time I had it. Forgive me Ian McC if I am wrong. Still has a certain clean-ness and is ok for sipping neat or with a drop of water
At 1st Jun 2015: Only five mins in the glass- Nose subdued- Stick nose in glass- sting of spirits makes me sneeze- Again- vanilla, rhubarb, dates, toffee, searching hard for smoke. Mouth- satisfying weight. Taste- apples, dates, sherry, bit too much vanilla sugar- long sweet-bitter finish with trace of liquorice and youthful woody notes- madeira?. Some water added- repeat- much the same. Afterglow. Makes you work for it- there are things developing in mid savour that I can't define- very subtle. Did it used to be better? Good budget sipping blends are getting harder to find. Black Bottle has self destructed. Teacher's is just hanging in because of its distinguished creamy profile. So Skye's a stand out blend in a bad to middling selection. I like the initial burn of it- like the macho blends of the past. I think the roughness can be enjoyed with the gentler tones. After 10 mins in the glass the nose reveals an intriguing suggestion of roundness- a delicious, relatively major note- toffee butterscotch pudding. I think it's got more to tell you with the right amount of water- which delays the developments enough to be better experienced in slower motion. Maybe half to 3/4 teaspoon in a 1/4 gill - Play around and see for yourself. Experiment- find your optimums. That's my humble opinion. Star rating relative to affordability in its class.
