Review by: zSolaris
Distillery: Linkwood
Region: Speyside
Age: 37 Year. Distilled 1978. Bottled 2016.
ABV: 50.30% Cask Strength.
Price: A lot.
Color: 1.2, Chestnut/Oloroso Sherry.
Nose: (according to the wife) Quite herbal. There’s herbal tea and a bit of hibiscus tea as well as a little bit of something that smells like Ricola cough drops. Pineapples, grass, and hay round this out.
Palate: At full strength, it is surprisingly quite hot and requires water. In general, it needs water as it’s quite a shy whisky. With a drop or two, you can immediately tell there’s a lot of fruity notes and some notes of hay but they seem quite restrained and closed off. As you add a little more water to it, it starts to come out of it’s shell to reveal a lot more. Green apples and pears come out. You get some apple cider as well as rosé wine. A little bit of rose water itself comes through as well. There’s enough malt coming through to keep things on the sweeter side, but it is a dry sweetness. Then, at some point, I seem to have hit the sweet spot for dilution as the fruit notes intensified heavily. A little bit of chocolate malt cereal comes through as well, which makes for a delicious dram.
Finish: Rather long and it warms your chest nicely. Apple cider goes on for days along with rose water and rosé wine. There’s a slightly musty note that comes through as well, which is quite pleasant.
Conclusion: For my 400th review, I’ve gone back to where it all began. While I won’t call Linkwood my first love in whiskey and while I probably wouldn’t rate that first Linkwood as highly now as I did then, it is absolutely what really sent me down the path where I am now. This 37 year release from 2016 is a rare distillery bottling from this Speyside giant. While it takes a lot of coaxing to get started, once it does, it is a fantastic representation of what how fantastic Linkwood can be. It’s a parade of orchard fruits, each building upon the other nicely. The bit of dryness from the rosé and floral notes helps keep this in balance. The little bit of chocolate that comes through helps set this apart by adding another dimension. All in all, a fantastic dram and I’m very happy to have tried it.
Final Score: 95.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 
