
January 11, 2018

Working on Linkwood

The name’s keeping a rather low profile, but we’ve had some brilliant ones, such as some old glories by G&M, some for Italy. Let’s see what we have in the boxes…

Linkwood 12 yo (43%, OB, Flora & Fauna, +/-2016)

I last tried this little F&F in 2009 (WF 82). I believe, but I could be wrong, that they’re still making it. Not too sure, actually… Colour: straw. Nose: much less easy and floral than expected, this has rather stones, new magazines, asparagus and leek, then bone dry beer and a little mutton suet. A handful of bitter almonds. Mouth: rather sweeter, with good lemon (candies) and orange blossom honey, while the background remains grassy and rather sharp. We’re talking cut grass and green-blue tea. A little olive oil too, even the mouth feel is rather oily. Finish: medium, grassy, with a few fresh walnuts and a good cup of unsweetened herbal tea. Say a blend. The lemons are back in the aftertaste. Comments: they could have done an easy Linkwood; they have not. I like!
SGP:452 - 83 points.

Linkwood 1995/2017 ‘Under The Lemon Tree’ (46%, Wemyss Malts, hogshead, 319 bottles)

Wemyss have already had a few of these 1995s, some I have yet to try. Colour: pale gold. Nose: starts with touches of light Cuban rum, plus a little aniseed perhaps, and would rather develop on buttery croissants, dough, panettone and kougelhopf, and then simply porridge. I’m not sure I’m getting the lemon tree… yet? But I do find hints of white cherries… Mouth: ah there. This is excellent, rather limoncello-y indeed, even lemonade, lemongrass, granny smith apples, and then just drops of wulong tea to prevent it from getting ueber-citrusy. Excellent. Finish: medium, very zesty, rather with oranges this time. Comments: very lovely limonc… I mean, Linkwood. Very easy, yet not too simple.
SGP:651 - 86 points.

Let’s see what else we’ve got. Perhaps this famous oldie?...

Linkwood 15 yo ‘100° proof’ (57%, Gordon & MacPhail, 75cl, 1980s)

Colour: gold. Nose: this older one too is quite meaty and bouillony, and there’s quite some earth and pipe tobacco to boot. Perhaps a little OBE? Because it tends to get fruitier after one minute, mainly on dried ones, figs, bananas, dates, sultanas… Shall we call it Christmassy? With water: some cigar tobacco, humus, leaves, dried morels… Mouth (neat): rather rich, with some lemons again, dried figs, quite a lot of pepper and gingerbread, and then more oranges. With water: doesn’t change much, although it would become a little earthier and more tobacco-y. More in line with the nose, in short. Finish: rather long, rather on bitter oranges. Comments: there were many batches, and this one was very good. Could have been the older Linkwood Distillery…
SGP:461 - 86 points.

Linkwood 8 yo 2008/2016 (62.1%, Signatory Vintage for La Maison du Whisky, 60th anniversary, bourbon barrel, cask #800035, 277 bottles)

If they’ve bottled a 8 yo, there must have been some reasons, no? Colour: straw. Nose: powerful! Mud and porridge, soaked buckwheat, fresh concrete, leaven… Ah? With water: broken branches and roots… Stays very austere and grassy/earthy. Mouth (neat): not much to do with the nose, it’s a candy bomb! Jellies and sweets everywhere, cassis, lemon, pears, oranges, cranberries, guavas, papayas, cherries… Rather extreme in that respect. Two whiskies in one? With water: fruit syrups, many of them. Cranberry seems to have the upper hand. Finish: long and extremely bubblegumy. We’ve got one called Malabar, well this is liquid Malabar. More lemon and pineapple sweets in the aftertaste. Comments: not too sure. Perhaps purely a stylistic composition?
SGP:741 - 78 points.

Perhaps another one from Signatory’s…

Linkwood 17 yo 1999/2016 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Un-chillfiltered Collection, hogshead, cask #6174)

Colour: straw. Nose: this one’s more civilised, more on bread and softer fruits, on yellow flowers, on barley, and on humus and moss. That’s a style that I enjoy, as we’re closer to Mother Nature. Some very nice notes of honey – rather honeydew – arising after thirty seconds. Nice! as they say on blogs. Mouth: perfect, really. Barley, earth, oranges, marzipan, citron liqueur, custard, and a bit of meringue. You just cannot be against this. Finish: same, for some good time. A perfect barley-y aftertaste, with perhaps just a bit of cardboard. Or oak? And honey! Comments: always loved this series, and this is another example why. A proper whisky lover who doesn’t care about scarcity, names, fashion or packaging could simply only buy all UCFs by SigV. And then have a lot of fun…
SGP:551 - 87 points.

Linkwood 20 yo 1997/2017 (51.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, hogshead, cask #12036, 326 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: a rather grassy one, with also whiffs of iron shavings and fresh rhubarb, perhaps green pears, and surely cider apples. All that makes rather vibrant and tart, not unlike a good Muscadet from the extreme West of the Loire Valley. With water: more mud, leaves, hessian, damp floor cloth… Mouth (neat): love this lemony and grassy style that doesn’t take many prisoners, love a little less the rather bonbony development. Cherry sweets, Jell-O, Haribo bananas… With water: a better balance, with some barley, orgeat, marzipan… Finish: medium, almondy, perhaps a tad sour. Comments: not the best swimmer ever, but other than that, it does deliver.
SGP:451 - 82 points.

Good, I believe there will be a part two…

Check the index of all Linkwood I've tasted so far