Talisker’s 30-Year Scotch Is a Beach Bonfire in a Bottle and It’s One of the Best Things We Drank This Month

Every month, we’re tasting a huge amount of beer, whiskey and other beverages. In some cases, we’re taste-testing the industry’s best new products, and in others, we’re coming across hidden gems in the wild. Our favorites from the last four weeks are gathered here, in the best things we drank this month.

Talisker 30 Year Old Single Malt Scotch

Johnny Brayson

When summer days turn to summer nights, there’s no better experience than hanging out with friends around a bonfire on the beach. And if you find yourself lacking in such opportunities this summer, no worries, Talisker has managed to bottle the experience in an absurdly delicious and luxurious single malt. The Isle of Skye distillery’s annual 30-year-old release for 2023 spent three decades perfecting in American oak casks before going straight into the bottle, non-chill filtered and at a cask strength of 49.6% ABV. On the nose, the Scotch smells like seawater and campfire, with a hint of pear. On the palate, it’s more of the same but with heightened complexity: peaty campfire smoke, a salty ocean breeze, some spicy pepper, a dash of tobacco and some pears and apples. I wish I had a whole bottle to last me through the summer instead of my little perfume bottle-style sample, but with a $1,100 SRP and just 561 bottles destined for the U.S. market, I’ll have to make do with my new summer memories.

Samuel Smith India Ale

Ryan Brower

After publishing an excerpt from our friend Joshua M. Bernstein from the 10th-anniversary edition of his The Complete Beer Course, I revisited one of the legendary cornerstones of the IPA style: Samuel Smith’s India Ale. At just 5% ABV, it harkens back to the roots of the IPA that came from England and leaned on caramel malts with a sprinkling of bitter noble hops that play together oh so well. We’d all do well to revisit classics like this from time to time. — Ryan Brower, Senior Commerce Editor

Poppi

Grace Cooper

I’m not an everyday soda drinker, but I do enjoy the occasional carbonated beverage. And I finally jumped on the “healthy” soda bandwagon with Poppi, a trendy prebiotic soda that I’ve seen all over TikTok for quite a while. With about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in each can, the brand’s flavors take a little bit of getting used to — for example, Poppi’s Classic Cola (my favorite) is not quite the same as drinking a Coke, for obvious reasons — but I did find the flavors pretty tasty overall and a little more enjoyable than the also popular Olipop. I can’t speak to the soda’s supposed benefits, but I do love the idea of a fun beverage with a relatively short, understandable ingredient list and a nice variety of flavors to choose from, like the newly-released Grape.
— Grace Cooper, Commerce Writer

Shiner Prickly Pear

Will Porter

The best thing I drank this month has to be Spoetzl Brewery’s Shiner Prickly Pear. After spending half a dozen years in Austin I developed an affinity for Shiner Bock, the brewer’s ubiquitous dark lager. While I do enjoy the bock any day of the year, when summer arrives I’ve got to reach for a Prickly Pear (or three). Returning after an aggravatingly long hiatus, the easy-drinking beer brewed with organic cactus is finally back on shelves — but just for the summer season. If you need a warm-weather beer that’s light and easy to drink with some fruit-forward flavor, this is the solution. — Will Porter, Associate Editor

Smokehead Tequila Cask Terminado

Tyler Duffy

Scotch people and tequila people typically talk past one another. But the flavors of the two beverages seem complementary. And that had me intrigued to try Smokhead’s new Terminado Islay Single Malt aged in tequila casks rather than the traditional sherry cask. The name and the logo (a skull) prime you to expect an insane concoction of a punch-you-in-the-face-with-peat Islay and the tequila shot you had one too many of in college. But it’s actually surprisingly mellow and balanced — almost to the point where you’d want a bit more aggressiveness — with the agave sweetness balancing a bit of smoke that lingers on the tongue. It doesn’t quite bring out the full range of Islay flavor the way sherry cask aging does. But it would make a good introductory option for someone looking to dip their toes in with an Islay. — Tyler Duffy, Associate Editor

Mount Gay Master Blender Collection PX Sherry Cask

Johnny Brayson

If you’re in search of a great sipping rum this summer, Mount Gay master blender Trudiann Branker has you covered with the latest addition to her Master Blender Collection series. The PX Sherry Cask Expression is a blend of 20-year-old pot- and column-distilled rums aged in American oak casks and finished for a full extra year in Pedro Ximenez sherry casks. As a fan of both aged English-style rums and PX sherry, this seemed like a can’t-miss tipple to me, and boy was I correct. The rum has a deep and dark golden color that is au naturel (no molasses or coloring added here) and smells like sweet cherries. On the palate, I get almost a bourbon note — a sweet, vanilla oak taste — that no doubt comes courtesy of the two decades the liquid spent aging in American oak. But the Pedro Ximenez also shows itself with a punchy raisin note, which lingers for a while thanks to the heavy and sticky viscosity of this stuff. This 90-proof rum is a special one, but one that will be hard to come by with just 4,200 bottles available worldwide.

— Johnny Brayson, Associate Editor

The Seed Here, Now English Best Bitter

Ryan Brower

English bitters are an even more delicate balance of caramel malts and hops, and The Seed is no stranger to excelling at traditional styles like this. It fits the bill for easy drinking at 4.5% ABV and shows off the brewery’s impeccable ability to make traditional beers just as good as any modern-day beer you’d find at a brewery. — Ryan Brower, Senior Commerce Editor

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