Talisker 10, and why it suits almost anyone

Short answer, yes. Of all the bottles we look at, Talisker 10 sits in the top 3% for how broadly it's liked. That is the whole point of it. Pour it for the peat-head and for the person who says they don't really do smoky, and both come back for a second.

Here's what's in the glass. The smoke is there, but it doesn't take over the way Lagavulin's can — underneath it runs a sweet, pear-like note that keeps everything in balance. When it's young you get the land itself: heather, moor, a bit of sweet seaweed. Then the finish lands with that cracked black pepper hit Talisker is known for.

If it's your bottle, the number this week is $92 for members. That works out to about $3.64 a standard drink across the roughly 25 pours in the bottle — a pour at home for well under a pint at the pub, which runs about $6.28 a standard drink on a $13 pint.

Now the swaps, for when you want a change.

Ledaig 10 opens with a brisk punch of peat and doesn't let up — earthy smoke, ripe barley, honeyed vanilla, a streak of black liquorice and espresso bean, even a little beef jerky and olive brine. There's a raw, bracing edge, but plenty of soothing sweetness behind it. To a Talisker 10 drinker it gives about 99% of what the Talisker does, for 108% of the price. It usually sells around $104; this week it's $99.

Lagavulin 8 heads straight for the shore: mineral and salt on the nose, but sweet with it, so it stays fresh and lively. The palate brings menthol, bay laurel, more brininess and a touch of Parma violet — peat smoke blown off a kiln into salt-laden air. To a Talisker 10 drinker it gives about 97% of what the Talisker does, for 108% of the price. It's $99 this week.

Port Charlotte 10 is heavily peated but never overpowering, sitting between meaty smoke and sweeter butterscotch, with a subtle sherry influence and the iodine kept understated. It's darker and less sweet than you'd expect, and the medicinal note carries right through a long, well-built finish. To a Talisker 10 drinker it gives about 96% of what the Talisker does, for 159% of the price. It usually sells around $146, and that's where it is this week.

So what would the drinkers of those nearby bottles pay for the Talisker itself? Ask each of them, starting from what they hand over for their own, and the answers run from $90 to $135. Every one of them who shares its flavours puts the Talisker at nine-tenths or more of their own bottle. At $92 for members, it sits right inside that band, near the bottom of what its closest neighbours' drinkers reckon it's worth.

Who's it for? If Talisker 10 is already your pour, nothing here unseats it, and $92 for members is this week's number if you're restocking. If you lean hard into peat, Ledaig 10 is the one to try next — all that brisk smoke for about the same money. If you want the sea in the glass, Lagavulin 8 does it for the same spend. And if you like your smoke darker and a touch medicinal, Port Charlotte 10 is the one, sitting higher on price.

Any of the four, honestly. That's the kind of company Talisker keeps.