DuckDrams

On our way back to Edinburgh from a rather improvised long-weekend getaway into the Highlands in summer 2021, Zoe and I spent the night in Inverness. Before departing the city we strolled into The Whisky Shop to have a browse – and there a 24 yo Linkwood caught my eye; a single cask bottling at 54.3% for TWS. No trace of this bottling was to be found online (I have since added a WhiskyBase entry), but the store clerk could, after calling someone within the company, confirm that the contents were from an ex-bourbon cask, as the colour would suggest. And the bottle in my hand was the very last one for sale! And so I departed from a dear £120…

Linkwood has been my favourite distillery for some time, perhaps sharing that spot with Glen Elgin. Linkwood is Speysider with clean and fresh fruit and floral notes (bar any overriding cask influences) balanced by a slight dryness and bitterness. It wins me over nearly every time. And while you never know how a single cask might have turned out, I did not think there was much risk of disappointment with this bottle.

I opened my bottle some months later, in the fall of 2021, while I was staying in a temporary accommodation organized by my research institute in the little town of Plön, to where I had just moved (and for the moment remain). I was initially a little disappointed, to be honest. The whisky was very ‘closed’ in my first encounter with it, and therefore came across as somewhat boozy at the respectable ABV. It also had to contend with a 1995 Glen Elgin that was the only other bottle I had open at the time, as my whisky collection awaited shipping from the UK to Germany, but that Glen Elgin to this date remains among the best bottles I’ve owned.

Fortunately, with time in the bottle, the Linkwood opened up, and has grown substantially on me. I’d say it needed to sit half a year at around medium fill to do so. I’m now down to my very last dram of this bottle, that I will now enjoy. However, below are my tasting notes from July 2022, when the bottle was at its prime:

Whisky Review

Linkwood 1997 24yo 54.3% Rare Find

Single Cask • Ex-Bourbon • Bottled for TWS.

Nose: Golden sultanas, overripe pineapple, rum, liquorice, beeswax, jasmine tea, white pepper, cinnamon, leather, oak.

Palate: Full and mouth-coating, malty-sweet, with a distinct bitterness that’s typical of Linkwood. Orange marmalade, dried mulberries and gooseberries. Not overly complex, but delicious.

Finish: Longish with gooseberry and tropical fruit.

Verdict: ⭐Notable Quality • My WB Score: 89

Tasting the very final dram of the bottle now (and before looking again at my July notes), I again emphasized the fruity aspects, but more in the direction of ripe apple and apricot than pineapple. If that’s a change in the dram, or an inconsistency in my palate, I will leave untold. After adding a splash of water, the dram seemed to close and become more bitter – I just remembered this one was not a water-down-er. Ooops! One needs to be a bit careful with older drams sometimes, although the default expectation is for a bit of water to help open up higher-ABV drams.

Anyhow, in the end I must say I really enjoyed the flavours in this bottle, but it’s been a bit reluctant to show its best side. There are some astonishing younger Linkwoods for around €60 (so half the price) and I would not say doubling the price and age here leads to anywhere near double the pleasure. A review of some younger Linkies is coming!