Talisker 41 Year Old The Bodega Series 1978

Distilled when my parents hadn't even met, this Talisker expression is the second from "The Bodega Series." It was matured in 100-year-old sherry casks from the Delgado-Zuleta bodegas in Spain. Bottled at 50.7%abv, this single malt started in refilled american white oak casks before finishing in 6 manzanilla sherry barrels, also 100 years old, from one of Spain's oldest bodegas. The packaging is reportedly made from sherry oak. Let's try this one! On the nose, it's very good, though I anticipated more. It begins with typical Talisker peat, citrusy naranjilla, cigarettes, ashes, salt, and citrus. Excellent. After an initial taste, the aroma grew fruitier and more maritime. Grapefruit, berries, strawberries, and cherry syrup. Orange peel and a rich coffee caramel. On the Palate, it's an amazing, out-of-this-world whisky. It starts salty and very maritime, then surprisingly turns sweet. Oranges; it doesn't feel like a 50.7%abv dram at all. You can easily hold it in your mouth for 41 seconds. Pepper, very sophisticated. A second taste brought sea water, berries, prunes, some tart fruits, and chocolate hidden within. Aftertaste is fantastic. Cigarettes, ashes, sawdust. Sulphuric and metallic notes, all in a pleasing way. An orange infusion lingers for a moment; pepper. The finish is eternal, never ending. Salty. Overall, I truly believe this is a fantastic whisky. That said, I don't think you should spend $4000 on a whisky, as it won't be drastically better than a very good $250-400 one. I've sampled many pricey whiskies, and most were very good, but not vastly superior to a three hundred dollar bottle. Ignoring that, I don't believe this is significantly different from other older Taliskers, like the 25 or 30yo. When I rated those, I didn't feel the 18yo was far behind either. Talisker usually gets five stars from me because their whiskies suit my preferences. My score for this wonderful single malt is 97 out of 100. Cheers!