Category: Linkwood

Style: Sweet, Creamy and Spicy

Nose:
Cool and brisk wind of Lavender and peppermint flows in and forms a deep and concrete backbone. Winter melon candies, beautiful crème brulee, rock melon mochi and glazed pears building around it, very sweet, and quite creamy too. More confectionaries down one level, fresh-cut grass, morning dew sitting on top of more creaminess – mostly in the form of vanilla cream and toffee. Five spices and anise giving a drier complexion, barley sugar lightly sprinkled with sea salt towards the end.

Palate:
Similar theme continues – More confectionaries thinly coated with vanilla milk, honey caramel, assorted glazed fruits, nashi pears, kumquat, fleshy navel orange, summer berries, even some apples and then gradually revert back to rock melon notes. Powerful spirit spice forming both a consistent undercurrent and overtone, with spearmint spikes piercing in from both sides spontaneously. Green grass gleaming quietly around the core, transition to pumpkin puree, coconut shreds, nutmeg and some soft peppermint and sawdust to finish.

Finish:
Subtle fruity tail, pineapple, coconut chips and naval orange flashing a little bit, vanilla cream to round it off.

Thoughts:
A very sweet Linkwood. Maybe that is down to the toasted hogshead finish that imparts extra creamy sweetness to the spirit, but not too much which can make the expression too “Virgin oak-y”, it strikes a pretty nice balance here. Also you will need a spirit spice as strong as Linkwood pull it off, 30 years and not even a wrinkle in this, incredible. Sometimes I am a bit skeptical with the cask finish project of SMWS, but this one is very well-done in my honest opinion. Clean, fruity, grassy and creamy, very lovely. Low two stars.

☆☆- [Highly Recommended]

[49%| 1989 Distilled| Single Cask| Natural Cask Strength| 177 Bottles| Initial Cask: Ex-Bourbon Hogshead| Final Cask: 2nd Fill Toasted Hogshead | **-]

-Esmond

Style: Sherry, Spicy and Complex

Nose:

Cranberries, red fruits, faint meatiness, waxy honeycomb, vanilla cream, strong peppermint all pressed tightly together to form a solid column. Herbal overtone flies high, while forest berries showing some refreshing fragrance. A sweet and fresh aroma.

Palate:

Autumn fruits, honey-baked ham, cherries and red liquorice blossoming nicely on the palate. Subtle floral notes infused with the peppermint spike, pecan pie served with some lip-smacking Sangria. Tobacco leaves, nutmeg and walnuts slowly emerge as the oak and earthiness come into effect. Herbal note continues to stand tall, chewy forest berries lingering at the back end.

Finish:

Sherry cream touches gently on the malt. Apricots and oranges humming softly, leading to a chocolate and forest berries finish.

Thoughts:

Not often you get to see a 34 years old Linkwood these days (that’s why I bought it), and this is quite an interesting drop. High abv, the distillate remains strong. As a result, the sherry and other elements have to accommodate and eventually subsumed by the spirit. A robust dram with nice sherry complexities to it. Close to 2 stars.

☆ [Recommended]

[58.1% | 1984 Distilled | 2018 Bottled | Single Cask | Batch 18/064 | Cask Strength | 481 Bottles | Matured in First Fill Sherry Butt | *+]

-Esmond

Style: Sherry-Fruity, Spicy and Complex

Nose:

Fresh cranberries and cherry blossom leading the sherry mist, hitting a stiff malty core which is further plated with graphite and chilli spice. Valencia orange squeezing in between, dry honeycomb with a touch of floral note and tails with Belgium chocolate.

Palate:

Ah, the summer berries and orange citrus open up brightly on the palate. Lemon zest strings, ginger/chilli spice gives the dram a great burst of life. The sherry notes – Cranberries, red liquorice, and co. laced around the fruity malt. Coconut shreds, more blue berries down the track, while subtle floral overtone is released up high and growing stronger overtime. Finish with lime juice and honeyed barley.

Finish:

Malt, then another bite of chocolate, fruits and sherry slowly fade away.

Thoughts:

It must have been a while since I bought this bottle because I have no recollection of purchasing it. I was quite surprised to find it left forgotten at the corner on my Speyside shelf. A pleasant surprise! Anyway, back to this dram – Maybe it’s a bit shy, but the expression manages to cover a wide spectrum of flavours, showing multiple dimensions of Linkwood in a pretty balanced way. The complexity is even more evident when it is given more time. All credit to the fruit-malty core, which remains unfazed in front of a rather strong sherry presence. Quite a decent dram.

☆ [Recommended]

[53.4% | Independent Bottling |1991 Distilled | 2007 Bottled | Aged 16 Years | Cask Number: 5520 & 5522 | Cask Strength | Non Chill Filtered | Non Coloured | Matured in First Fill Butts | Tasted on 18/12/2019 | *]

-Esmond