converted to steam heating and the maltings floor was demolished. Talisker's water comes from springs directly above the distillery via a network of pipes and wells. The malted barley used in production comes from Muir of Ord. Talisker has an unusual feature—swan neck lye pipes. A loop in the pipes takes the vapour from the stills to the worm tubs, which causes some of the alcohol to condense before it reaches the cooler. It then runs back into the stills and is distilled again. Talisker now has an annual output of three and a half million litres of spirit. Talisker was the favourite whisky of writers Robert Louis Stevenson and HV Morton. In his poem "The Scotsman's Return From Abroad", Stevenson mentioned "The king o' drinks, as I conceive it, Talisker, Islay, or Glenlivet." In early 2020, Talisker came under scrutiny after a radiocarbon study suggested Talisker 1863 whisky was produced much later, either between 1957-58 or 2007-2014. Character The spirit is most frequently matured in American oak casks. The malt is peated to a phenol level of approximately 18–22 parts per million (ppm), which is a medium peating level. Additionally, the water used for production, from Cnoc nan Speireag (Hawk Hill), flows over peat which adds additional complexity to the whisky. The distillery began producing special bottlings of the whisky for connoisseurs in the early 2000s, with a 20- and 25-year bottling (where previously only a 10-year and 18-year were available). The 25-year bottling, despite being more expensive than the 20-year bottling, was distributed more widely. In 2007 Talisker 18-year-old won "Best Single Malt In The World 2007" at the World Whiskies Awards. and in 2015 Talisker 10 Year Old won a Double Gold Medal and "Best Single Malt Scotch up to 12 years" in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Bottlings Talisker 10 Year Old Talisker Skye Talisker Storm Talisker Dark Storm Talisker 18 year Old (limited annual run) Talisker 25 year Old (limited annual run) Talisker 30 year Old (limited annual run) Talisker Distiller's edition Talisker 57° North Talisker Port Ruighe Talisker Neist Point Talisker 8 Year Old Cask Strength (periodic release) Reviews and accolades Talisker whiskies have generally performed very well at international Spirit ratings competitions and have won some acclaim from liquor review organizations. The 10-, 18-, 25- and 30-year Taliskers have been awarded mostly gold medals from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The