I picked up a 1-liter bottle of 18-year-old Talisker single-malt Scotch for US$68 yesterday in the duty-free shop at Shanghai Airport. Was that a good deal? That’s a full liter, not a fifth. Someone mentioned Talisker as a good Scotch in another thread, and I remember spending a pleasant evening drinking the stuff in a riverfront bar in Phnom Penh a few years ago. Seemed quite good then. You can’t find it in Thailand.
The regular 10-year Talisker is 20 quid a bottle here, working out at about US$58/litre. That is a fantastic drink. (Or as a friend phrased it: ‘it tastes of old carpet, but I like it’.)
I don’t think I’ve even seen an 18-year one on sale here, although I don’t necessarily frequent the type of shop which would sell it! Possibly it’s produced primarily for overseas markets, which would explain how you got your hands on it so easily. In which case, you’re going to have to assess the qualities of the product in some detail, and report back to us 
Heh. Another well-known single malt, 15-year Laphroaig, has been described as “very peaty – like licking Scotland”.
Between that and Talisker you’ve got an indoor/outdoor Taste of Scotland thing going on, I guess… (But what about the sheep?)
That’ll be Lagavulin.
You got a deal. The local Bevmo has fifths of the 18 year old for $70.
I really like Talisker. Laphroig, Ardbeg, Lagavullin, Bowmore…garbage to me. Can’t stand them. But Talisker is something different. Maybe it’s just that Skye is a nicer island than Islay. I don’t know. But the farther north you go with the island malts, the more I like them. Guess which one is my favorite? 
Is it on Shetland?
Orkney, actually. The 18 year old expression.
Great. Thanks to all. There was a 10-year for sale there, too, but I went with the 18-year. I don’t know which one I drank in Phnom Penh. Might take a few weeks for me to open it, though, as I’m saving it for my next session with my Scotch-drinking buddy upcountry, but I’ll give you a report.
Jackson gives the Talisker 10 a 90, while Murray gives it an 86. Neither rates the 18, suggesting it’s for particular markets, as GorillaMan suggested. Enjoy!
ETA: Damn! I’m out of Talisker!
BTW: We also picked up a 1-liter bottle of Bailey’s for the wife (I admit to liking it, too) for US$20. Just a fifth goes for about $29 here in Thailand, so I know that was a good deal. But when we flew from here last month, we noticed a chocolate-mint Bailey’s in Bangkok’s duty free. Never heard of that. Not wanting to lug it around China with us, we hoped it would be in duty free there, too, but no. I hope we can find it here in the city. Anyone tried that?
The chocolate mint Bailey’s is pleasant, but the flavour is not strong. Mixing Bailey’s with creme de cacao and creme de menthe or fresh mint would make a much nicer drink. It also comes in a Caramel flavour which is tasty but not as good as Dooley’s Toffee or Argentinean Dulce de Leche IMHO.
You got a great deal with 18 year old Talisker.
I’ve never had Talisker but that sounds great.
Damn, Sam, forgot you were coming here but I was travelling anyway. Hope you had a good time.
Thanks, China Guy. Yes, we had a very nice time. I have to wonder, though, is every other person in Shanghai really a watch vendor? Sure seemed like it many times strolling down the street. But Shanghai’s nice. Our first time to that particular city. We were also in Beijing, which I was already somewhat familiar with and so could show the wife around, but Shanghai was completley new for both of us. We just missed Spider-Man Alain Robert’s climb up the Jinmao Tower, too; we’d been sitting in the Cloud 9 Bar up on the 87th floor there just two days before. Wish we could have seen him scrambling past. I think they’re letting him out of jail today, yes?
Update: I opened that bottle sooner than I thought. My buddy came down early from upcountry because some old mutual friends of ours were in town from Colorado. He would have been down on Tuesday anyway for his annual visa renewal, but he decided to bring his wife and make it a long weekend in Bangkok. I would not have seen him or opened the Talisker yet if he’d just been down for a quick one-day trip. So we all got together at the Sky Buffet on the 78th floor of the Baiyoke 2 Building – the 28th tallest building in the world – and enjoyed it with a fine dinner and a great view of Bangkok. We didn’t finish the entire liter, I still have a few glasses left, but we did some damage to it. It’s very good stuff.
After dinner, I sent the wife home with the rest of the Talisker, and then my buddy and I hit the Nana Plaza bar area, followed by some late-night Mexican food and margaritas. Mmmmm.
Hmm, you mention Nana Plaza like it’s Denny’s or the rotary club…although I’m sure you can find a lot of Rotarians there. Ms. Sam must be pretty laid back and/or you’re not tempted by Nana.
Yes, she’s very good about letting me out to play. So is my friend’s wife. They know we always look but never touch. 
Sounds like you’re familiar with Nana Plaza. It’s actually gone downhill in recent months. We only went there because we hadn’t seen it for a while. Soi Cowboy is the most popular bar area now, but Patpong is enjoying a resurgence. But speaking of Nana, I am saddened to report the passing of Hog’s Breath Saloon, including their free early Sunday-afternoon chili. That leaves only three bars now in the entire three-story complex that were there back in our early salad days, and one of those is a transvestite bar!
UPDATE: Okay, so this time I hit the duty-free shop at Changi Airport in Singapore and picked up a one-liter bottle of Laphroaig single malt. Specifically, Laphroaig PX Cask Triple Matured. For S$103 and some change, which works out to about US$82.
Like Talisker, you can’t find Laphroaig in Thailand, but – again like Talisker – I’ve had it in Cambodia and liked it. Will be saving it for New Year’s to drink with my buddy upcountry.
Say, how do you pronounce Laphroaig anyway? La-fro-ig?
La-froyg.
Thanks! Never would’ve known. I just drink the stuff, not read it.
And Woo Hoo! I am now a landowner in Scotland! Or lease holder. It seems the canister my bottle came in had a little booklet extolling the wonders of this fine product. It also gave me a code number. I just registered it at the Laphroaig website and now have a lifetime lease for one (1) square foot of land that runs alongside the Kilbride stream, their water source.
If anyone wants to rent my square foot, I am open to negotiations.
I might mention too that the label says the cask it was matured in once held Pedro Ximenez sherry.