
July 31, 2020

Linkwood with little wood

Ooh that’s smart! Indeed (no it's not, S.), shouldn’t we try a few Linkwoods, as they come to the table? I think we’ve got plenty in both the archives and in the ‘newly arrived’ boxes…

Linkwood 12 yo 2007/2020 ‘Reserve Cask Parcel No.2’ (48%, Elixir Distillers, hogsheads)

The label tells us that the angels’ share has been of 24.33%. Aren’t they good at math? This is a vatting of four casks. Colour: pale white wine. Nose: awesome, smoky and fruity, very fresh, tense, bready, herbal, with fresh carrots, with touches of ham that are usually rather to be found in ex-sherry. Smoked kiwis and greengages, what’s not to like? Mouth: in Alsace we say ‘hoppla’, which means that there’s nothing to quibble about. More smoked ham and various green fruits, gooseberries, granny smith, rhubarb (I know it’s the stems that we’re eating, love them and have plenty in my garden), green pepper, earth. Finish: long and earthier. Comments: upper-echelon bottling, marvellous freshness and high-precision work inside.
SGP:551 - 88 points.

Linkwood 12 yo 2007/2020 (54.9%, Single Malts of Scotland, hogshead, cask #804457, 276 bottles)

Linkwood 12 yo 2007/2020 (54.9%, Single Malts of Scotland, hogshead, cask #804457, 276 bottles)
This should be similar. Colour: muscadet wine. Nose: strike. Pure, crystalline bready barleyness, with whiffs of coal smoke and crushed bananas in porridge, with a dollop of honey and whiffs of yellow flowers. Perhaps roses as well, I’ve often associated Linwood with roses, not to sure I was always right. Some pink grapefruits. Mouth: creamy and barley-y. A little grey pepper, cherries, bread, panettone, scones and then bitter oranges. Superb clean and balanced fruity distillate, very pure and easy to quaff. Excellent. Finish: rather long, with nots of bitter almonds, then citrons and a little muesli. Lemony aftertaste. Comments: at the very heart of proper malt whisky, without any make-up. I find this luminous and I could drink this all day. I said I could, neither that I should and nor that I will. I know I haven’t even added any water.
SGP:551 - 88 points.

Linkwood 12 yo 2007/2020 (56%, Golden Cask, bourbon, 276 bottles)

This one too should be similar. Colour: straw. Nose: punchier and harsher, but this time we’ll make good use of water, I promise. Hops, lemon zests, baker’s yeast, porridge, sour cream, yoghurt, dough… We shall see. With water: raw wool, ideas of bleach, washing powder, chalk, aspirin… Mind you, I do enjoy this style. Mouth (neat): akin to the Elixirs this time, creamy and lemony, blade-y, but this time a little rawer. Limoncello and granny smith. With water: ah yes lovely, fruitier, you’d almost believe you’re having a Lagunitas. Finish: same, for a good length of time. Comments: sharp and very good. Linkwood deserves better exposure, after G&M had pushed it alongside Mortlach. I agree, that was a long time ago.
SGP:461 - 86 points.

Good, are we truly ready for some genuine Linkwood madness, Old-Whiskyfun-style?

Linkwood 10 yo 2008/2018 (57.4%, James Eadie, oloroso finish, 615 bottles)

Linkwood 10 yo 2008/2018 (57.4%, James Eadie, oloroso finish, 615 bottles)
This baby was finished in oloroso for twenty months. I believe J. Eadie are very, very good at producing young modern whiskies of high – if modern indeed – quality. Colour: well the finish doesn’t show in the colour. Gold. Nose: it’s rawer, more from the country, with more petrol, grist, skins, hay, and only then the expected butterscotch and Mars bars. With water: fresh baguette and focaccia. We’re in the core. Mouth (neat): rich, creamy, on a lot of custard, triple-sec, peppermint liqueur, marmalade and… slivovitz. True eau-de-vie de barley. With water: excellent and smart. A tiny touch of oak shavings, perhaps, but other than that it’s a bed of orange blossom and elderflowers. Right, or syrups and liqueurs made thereof. Finish: rather long, clean and bright, yet syrupy. Oranges and ginger. Comments: was that oloroso cask STR-ised? Whatever, the end result is pretty perfect. I told you, masters of this (relatively) new game.
SGP:551 - 87 points.

Linkwood 27 yo 1990/2018 (50.3%, Signatory Vintage 30th Anniversary, cask #9735, hogshead, 233 bottles)

Linkwood 27 yo 1990/2018 (50.3%, Signatory Vintage 30th Anniversary, cask #9735, hogshead, 233 bottles)
I’ll confess that we’re keeping some of Signatory’s 30th anniversary bottlings for ‘later’. After all, pleasure is also in waiting, Or in climbing the staircase – right. Having said that our pal Angus already tried it for these modest pages and liked it rather a lot. Colour: gold. Nose: phooh, this works. Bitter almonds, quince jelly, putty, fresh paint, roasted pistachios, marzipan… What does the people want? With water: strange, I’m finding linoleum and ‘a lost Saturday afternoon at Ikea’s’. Couldn’t find much worse… Mouth (neat): strange and relatively good. There’s a herbal fragility I would say, some coconut water in excess I would add, and an unexpected feeling of ‘sour spices’. What’s happening? With water: plastics and cardboards. No. Finish: no, this can’t be the real thing. Comments: when I see all these friends filling samples with plastic caps (any plastic + booze situation is a total mess, really) I feel sad. This is a good example, this baby got totally wrecked within less than two years. De profundis etc.
SGP:151 - no points.

Linkwood 21 yo 1997/2018 (56.9%, Signatory Vintage, The Whisky Embassy Bonn, refill sherry hogshead, cask #4239)

Linkwood 21 yo 1997/2018 (56.9%, Signatory Vintage, The Whisky Embassy Bonn, refill sherry hogshead, cask #4239)
This is German. Love Bonn, love the valley, love the vineyards, love the people (S., that was lame at best!) Colour: gold. Nose: as we all know, there’s good sulphur and there’s bad sulphur. This is good sulphur, umami-y, flinty, full of walnuts, paraffin, suet and… leatherette. With water: ah nice, on new leather jacket (or boots, as you like) and pickled fruits and vegetable. Tiny maize, for example, gherkins, onions... Mouth (neat): it is a little uncertain, too peppery, too sulphury, too dry, too petroly, too leathery, and yet pleasant and quaffable. Water should help us. With water: not too sure. Truffles and Schweppes, zests… Finish: medium, still a little sulphury. Comments: it’s extremely hard to score this kind, as some would claim that the sulphur is an asset, while others will insist that it’s a flaw. I would remain cautious…
SGP:362 - 75 points.

No luck with Signatory today – last time that happened that was around 1925. Excuse me, 1924. But let’s go on…

Linkwood 21 yo 1997/2018 (51.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, cask # 12574, 314 bottles)

Linkwood 21 yo 1997/2018 (51.5%, Douglas Laing, Old Particular, cask # 12574, 314 bottles)
Haven’t heard much from DL’s lately, certainly hope they’re doing fine! I know, Covid, Boris and stuff. Of course we emphasize! Colour: white wine. Nose: tense, slightly smoky (coal), vegetal, dry, with a tiny touch of soap. That cannot be right. With water: touches of yeast, then grapefruits and paraffin. Okay. Ish. Mouth (neat): ah rather good, on grapefruit jam and tight chalky white wine. With water: sadly it wouldn’t quite swim. Gets a little cardboardy. Finish: medium and average. Comments: no, a little too hard and probably rather unnecessary. No, not a matter of wrecked sample this time, for sure not. Hey DL!?
SGP:352 - 73 points.

Linkwood 27 yo (54.6%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society for Whisky L.,, ‘A truly engaging experience’, #39.166, 152 bottles, +/-2018)

Linkwood 27 yo (54.6%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society for Whisky L.,, ‘A truly engaging experience’, #39.166, 152 bottles, +/-2018)
According to the name, this was bottled when the SMWS crew responsible with finding the names switched from regular peyotl to pajateros. Gotta love them anyway. Colour: gold. Nose: whiffs of sunflower oil at first, then rather warm praline and some kind of earthier brioche. A little uncertain this far, I would say. With water: we lost it. Between yesterday’s breads and tomorrow’s Chicken wings, plus cardboard. Twenty-seven-years-old-Linkwood, really? Mouth (neat): nah, this is very good, punchy, rich and crisp at the same time, on spicy breads and auntie’s old peppermint liqueurs. See what I mean? With water: it's okay as long as you do not add more than half a drop of H2O. Otherwise, just forget. Finish: good when neat, appalling when reduced. Comments: I just couldn’t manage this one. My fault for sure. Some sides were pretty great though. To whom should I send my postcard?
SGP:461 - 77 points.

Looks like this session is going south. One last try and off to Netflix (a.k.a. the end of civilisation, but indeed stinky amazon prime is even worse – no they don’t deserve any capital letters)… Good, heavy artillery please!...

Linkwood 21 yo 1956/1977 (45.7 G.L., Cadenhead, black dumpy)

Linkwood-Glenlivet 21 yo 1956/1977 (45.7 G.L., Cadenhead, black dumpy)
From when that old lady was still at the helm at Cadenhead’s in Aberdeen. Oh yeah, and ‘GL’ means Gay-Lussac, so pretty much % vol. A.B.V. Oh and ‘black dumpy’ sure isn’t any official terminology. Colour: white wine. Nose: but naturally. Soot, tar, marrow, old copper coins, toolbox, beach sand, tin box, toolbox, a Jaguar engine (straight 6) and a pile of old magazines in an old attic in and old house in an old town in an old country. Mouth: these are tough, probably too paraffiny, too cardboardy, too meaty and too metallic, but that’s exactly what we enjoy in these very unlogic early black dumpies by Cadenhead. Where else are you going to find artichoke liqueur seasoned with brass and aged in fibreglass containers? Nowhere! Finish: medium, dry, on difficult vegetable. Eggplants, parsnips, swedes, salsify… Comments: honestly, this was tough. Even good old Jaypee Sartre wouldn’t have touched it. Hemingway? Probably…
SGP:361 - 76 points.

Conclusion: better choose your Linkwoods clean, young and crisp. Yep, Serge at the MacBook.

PS: it is always pretty stressful to the taster when you encounter such a string of, say moderately impressive whiskies, because invariably, you start to wonder whether you, instead of the spirits, are having a problem. That’s where benchmark/reference whiskies come handy as well, as they represent a good way of checking if everything’s okay with your nose and palate, especially if you haven’t become over-sensitive – temporarily - to some main flavours, especially bitterness, which can happen rather often in my experience.

(Molto gracias, Angus, Roger)

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