The distillery is operated by Diageo and Taliskers’ 10 year old whisky has been nominated as part of their Classic Malts series.

[citation needed] After a number of false starts, the distillery was founded in 1830 by Hugh and Kenneth MacAskill.

A new lease for the distillery was negotiated in 1892 with the chief of Clan MacLeod for an annual payment of £23.12s (equivalent to £3,242 in 2023)[3] and a ten-gallon cask of best-quality Talisker.

[5] In 1895 the business was converted into a limited liability company with Thomas Mackenzie as managing partner, but the shares were not offered to the public.

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.

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."

Talisker whiskies have generally performed very well at international Spirit ratings competitions and have won some acclaim from liquor review organizations.

[16] Talisker Distiller's Edition won Best Islands Single Malt at the 2013 World Whiskies Awards.