A malt equivalent to The Rolling Stones Satisfaction: it's exciting and fulfilling no mater how many times you come to it, on one level it's mainstream, if slightly on the heavier and rockier side of the taste spectrum; on another there's an edgier and less safe edge to it. A rich body is decorated with pepper and peat.

Sukhinder Singh 2011, Whisky Magazine, Issue 95, p.102

Quite dense and smoky on the nose, with smoked fish, bladderwrack, sweet fruit and peat. Full-bodied and peaty in the mouthy; complex, with ginger, ozone, dark chocolate, black pepper and a kick of chilli in the long, smoky tail.

Gavin D Smith, Malt Whisky Yearbook 2015, p.175

Fresh, vibrant. Appetizingly briny, with notes of seaweed, fishnets, lemongrass, smoke, and damp peat. A bed of light toffee provides contrast and balance. It finishes with a knockout punch: powerfully peppery and salty. This whisky remains a beautifully dynamic and bold whisky.

John Hansell, Whisky Advocate Fall 2005

Another that should need no introduction. The thing to look for in Talisker, as with all smoky whiskies, is sweetness that gives the requisite balance to the drying effect of smoke. Underneath Talisker’s smoke, which ain't as all-pervading as Lagavulin, is a sweet pear-like quality. When young there are notes of the land: heather, moor, sweet seaweed, and a finish that has a distinctive cracked black pepper hit.

Dave Broom, Whisky Advocate Summer 2012