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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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August 9, 2023 |
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A new Linkwood extravaganza, part dos
Just a few more Linkwoods, hoping for some natural, un-fiddled-with expressions… I mean, sherry is good, natural ist besser.
(Anne Burgess) |
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Linkwood 10 yo 2012/2023 (58.8%, Signatory Vintage, for Germany, 1st fill bourbon barrel, cask #306301, 202 bottles) 
My life wouldn't have been the same without Signatory Vintage. I am not joking, and I believe that's the case with many seasoned whisky enthusiasts. Of course, we would have drunk much less, but we would have been so bored! Colour: pale white wine. Nose: lemon juice, granny smith, chalk, porridge, white cherries, seaweed, crushed almonds and tiger balm. Another utter blade. With water: one of the tightest yet easiest white Sancerres. May I suggest the famous La Moussière from the house Alphonse Mellot? Mouth (neat): goes down straight along your spine, bringing grapefruit and the tartest apples into your system. Utter purity, even if a wee vanilla-and-limoncello fatness from the barrel would come with it. With water: perhaps a tad more muddy/doughy, losing a very small part of its focus. Finish: long, this time with wee touches of parsley, even a little garlic and shallots. Good fun. Comments: careful with water. Other than that, It's perfect unadulterated young Linkwood.
SGP:561 - 87 points. |
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Linkwood 10 yo 2011/2021 (52.1%, Thompson Bros., dechar/rechar American oak hogshead, 262 bottles)
Geese in action on the label. Were they suggesting that this would go well with foie gras? Or is that swans? Colour: white wine. Nose: whiffs of ristretto coffee, then perfect roasted nuts (pecans first), halva, amaretti, nougat… The rechar part does feel. it made it pleasantly coffee-ish, with a 'Starbucks side' as we sometimes say. With water: back on apples and lemons. Mouth (neat): excellent. Big tart citrus combining with the rejuvenated oak, nothing too complex indeed but the zesty fulness (for lack of a better expression) is working extremely well, even if it feels, say a little 'lab'. No problems whatsoever. With water: simple, just excellent. Smart modern malt. Finish: long, citrusy. Once more, apples and lemons are running the show. Comments: Cambus casks? We're not going to restart the quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns, are we?
SGP:651 - 87 points. |
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Linkwood 15 yo 2008/2023 (57.6%, Signatory Vintage for Whisky Bibliothek, Switzerland, hogshead, cask #803837, 251 bottles) 
Colour: light gold. Nose: hurray, ripe apples, banana skins, chalk and dough, fresh croissants, angelica, woodruff, liquorice wood… It all feels very natural, full, even slightly medicinal, as if they had kept this hogshead at Lagavulin Distillery. You'd even find bandages and sourdough. With water: more pastry dough, leavened dough roll, this morning's baguette... Mouth (neat): great lemony punch. Touch of salt, herbs and grasses aplenty, citrons, maracuja, lavender honey (which hasn't got much to do with lavender flowers, organoleptically speaking)… What's sure is that this is upper-echelon, untampered-with young Linkwood. With water: huge green lemon, very tart, almost a tad aggressive. More water brings more lemon rind, how bizarre. Finish: pepper and razorblades. Comments: in the style of the winners we've had yesterday, Whisky AGE, Liquid Art… But beware, it's not just a nice little whisky, even if it is a tad 'rounder'.
SGP:651 - 89 points. |
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Linkwood 14 yo 2009/2023 (52.3%, Best Dram, 1st fill oloroso sherry hogshead, cask #302700, 251 bottles) 
Colour: full gold. Nose: with beans and eggplant, celeriac, walnut skin, parsnips, artichoke, also dunnage, tarmac, hessian… This is clearly something else. Let's dig deeper… With water: chalk and sourdough, porridge, milk powder, pack of paper tissues, the expected walnuts… Mouth (neat): back to civilisation, even it does remain rather wild, with peppered mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, some leather, sour orange liqueur, sour herbal teas, hawthorn perhaps… With water: not that different. Soy milk, perhaps? Finish: long, more bitter and sour. Isn't it giving up? Pepper… Comments: not too sure. The nose was pretty perfect, but this austere palate sure didn't brighten up my day. Too tough a boy for this humble little taster, I would say. Plus, life is too short and there are many extraordinary other whiskies in this wee range. Let's move on…
SGP:362 - 74 points. |
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Linkwood 16 yo 2006/2022 (56.5%, The Whisky Show, hogsheads, casks #801604 & 801605) 
Colour: straw. Nose: nice pastries, sunflower oil, nougat, vanilla fudge… Not an Einstein whisky, but it's nice. With water: cut grass, barley, earth… Mouth (neat): very nice, very citrusy, with this feeling of readymade mojito of some sort. Green pepper, lemon, green pepper, lemon, green pepper, lemon… And mint. With water: nice, sweet, easy, slightly earthy/rooty, with some grapefruit juice. Finish: long, on more of the same. Perhaps more apples. Comments: excellent, but it probably won't transcendently transport us to the eternal light and an ultimate wisdom. That's whisky today, am I not right?
SGP:461 - 84 points. |
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Linkwood 10 yo 2012/2023 (46%, Signatory Vintage, Un-Chillfiltered Collection, casks #201+203, 550 bottles)
Remember that by rule, a true whisky enthusiast is someone who knows how to write 'Un-Chillfiltered'. No, forget about 'Bruichladdich' and 'Bunnahabhain'. Colour: amber. Nose: proper old-school sherried Linkwood, like in the old days indeed. Chestnut purée, fig wine, peanut butter, metal polish, dates filled with marzipan, black nougat, Turkish delights, fruitcake (a.k.a. the forbidden descriptor)… Mouth: properly old-skool, full of flaws, full of pleasures. Old copper, walnut wine, tobacco, peppers, smoked paprika, muddy pastries, arrak… Finish: pretty long, with some old rancio wines, Malaga PX, whacky figs… Comments: a whisky that is both quite anarchic and entirely conservative. In truth, it reminds me of the United Kingdom as a whole – as seen from my old France, of course.
SGP:561 - 87 points. |
Time to try some older ones, with two old sister casks for our dear friends in Asia… |
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Linkwood 30 yo 1992/2022 (47.1%, The Whisky Blues for The Antelope, Macau, bourbon barrel, cask #5285, 280 bottles)
Hey, a proper 30 yo ex-barrel Linkwood! Colour: straw. Nose: very delicate, whispering, with some beeswax, apple juice, nectar, a little barley syrup, sugarcane juice, dandelions, buttercups, gorse, blancmange, crushed ripe bananas, old papers, old library… Everything's so subtle in there… You would almost believe this is a very old Champagne. Our British friends always swear by Pol Roger, which has always surprised us a bit, but okay, let's go with Pol Roger. Mouth: utter elegance, with salted brioches, sourdough bread, dry honeys, old pinewood, soft jams, quince, plums… It would then get a tad dry and even fleshless, but some menthol and pine resins are coming to the rescue. Finish: nah this is not the best part, it's becoming dry, green, resinous, a little difficult perhaps, but let's remember it is 30 and that it was not artificially boosted with any cheapo active woods. So, no Botox in this one. Comments: no poor Nicole Kidman here, only some embraced age. But love Nicole Kidman and love this old Linkwood! (S., that was the dumbest comment you have ever written on this utterly ridiculous website.)
SGP:361 - 88 points. |
Last-one-I-swear-to-Vishnu-or-I-drink-all-of-Cadenhead's-lastest… |
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Linkwood 30 yo 1992/2023 (48.1%, The Whisky Blues, barrel, cask #5290, 255 bottles)
Colour: white wine. Incredibly light colour for a 30. Nose: fresh and fully on barley syrup, pistachio liqueur, then yellow flowers, wisteria, lilac, soft sauna oils, bananas (old natural whiskies often display bananas, in my meagre experience), hay, gooseberries… This one too is a whisperer, but what elegance! Mouth: more oomph than in the 'Antelope', also more roughness, grass, green spices, green tannins… We're very close, obviously as they were sister casks, but this one's even more 'difficult'. Great, but a little difficult. Finish: pine resin, black and green propolis, raw liquorice… Comments: right, both are fighters. It's almost like playing a game of chess against the whisky, which has a quite obvious superiority. Boy, have they gotten dry! We're too soft…
SGP:361 - 87 points. |
All right, seventeen Linkwoods altogether, that's enough. We've got some by future former indies G&M as well, but I think we'll have those later. |
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