Old Linkwood vs very old Linkwood


September 20, 2022

Birthday session,
old Linkwood vs. very old Linkwood

There's quite some young to middle-aged Linkwood around, many really good, but old ones are becoming rare, even if Diageo had a superb 1981 'Prima & Ultima' last year. What's sure is that the news of another old wonder from Gordon & MacPhail's is always of extreme interest.
	Bugatti Type 35 1925 (Artcurial)

By the way, we hope they'll have a super-rare old Laphroaig for the coronation of king Charles III next year, even if we haven't seen any Laphroaig from G&M's since… the mid 1980s! Or we haven't been paying attention! Oh and this is my birthday, I'm turning 42 right today (and I can hear you). .

Linkwood 1988/2021 (47.5%, The Whisky Jury, refill hogshead, cask #2334, 176 bottles)Linkwood 1988/2021 (47.5%, The Whisky Jury, refill hogshead, cask #2334, 176 bottles)

Linkwood 1988/2021 (47.5%, The Whisky Jury, refill hogshead, cask #2334, 176 bottles)

Colour: white wine. Nose: another one that came from a superbly shy old refill cask, apparently, with as much 'modern technology' as there was in a 1927 Bugatti. I'm getting whiffs of rose petals, which I'll always try to find in Linkwood since Michael Jackson once wrote that roses were amongst Linkwood's main markers. I have to confess I've not always been successful in my quest, but cheers Michael-in-the-sky! Wonderful wet limestone, sourdough, green gooseberries, damp plaster, granny smith, paraffin and crushed grapes. Traces of elderflowers and vernal grass, wild thyme, hay... That part is absolutely wonderful and can only stem from a perfect old refill cask (give me a break with your 'knackered old wood' thing). Mouth: and voilà, what was in the nose is in the palate too, these tart gooseberries and granny smith apples, this herbal side, more paraffin, something clearly sour as if it was a proper caipirinha (with almost no syrup at all), coriander, even wee gherkins, cardamom… It would tend to become a little extra-sour and bitter, having said that, but nothing excessive. Finish: wonderfully acidic and bitter, rather on peel and the tightest cider apples. A wee green tannicity in the aftertaste. Comments: in the rather tough category of the quasi-90s.
SGP:461 - 89 points.

Linkwood 50 yo 1971/2021 (42.4%, Gordon & MacPhail, Private Collection for The Single Malt Shop, refill American oak hogshead, cask #98011203, 166 bottles)

50 years is very old but 1971 is pretty recent, no? Time really gets elastic these days… Colour: brown amber. Nose: too fast. Why should even the inattentive taster understand within a fraction of a second that the whisky is totally superlative? All that because of old crème de menthe, old myrtle liqueur, tiger balm and small figs, one of the most perfect equations? Add old pinewood (a chalet in the Alps – you may drop the fondue) and some kind of sweeter moussaka. Cooked eggplants for sure. In truth it is a little different from most of G&M's other 'old wonders', perhaps because of a rather lower natural strength than usual? Oh and looks like I forgot to mention thin mints. Mouth: pine (wood, needles) is not always great news when it's there right in the arrival, but in this case it is, because you also have the impression that someone came at night and poured one or two demi-johns of mid-1800s cognac into this hogshead, while everyone including the guard cat was at sleep. Which generated a feeling of old rancio, peach jam, also old Bénédictine and Yellow Chartreuse. I was about to also mention old moutai. Background: many tiny herbal and bouillony notes, miso, soy sauce, leek, mushrooms, ransom… Finish: medium, rather rounder (raisins, figs, dates), then on tiny savoury matters and substances. A pinhead of hoisin sauce and some chocolate sauce. Comments: absolutely splendid, with a wonderful 'reductive' side, marrow, porcini, 'solera-type' sauce base…
SGP:561 - 92 points.

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