Linkwood 29 Year (1973) Murray McDavid Mission Selection Number Two

Review by: The Muskox

After all the chaos I caused the other day with that unpopular opinions thread, I feel like I owe the sub a serious review or two.

Here’s a good place to start. This whisky came as part of a tasting from my whisky club, showcasing bottlings by Murray McDavid and Douglas Laing. I was lucky enough to be cohosting this event, which meant I got to spend loads of time with each of the drams. Linkwood from this era actually had worm tubs on one set of stills, because the 1970s were magic.

Distillery: Linkwood.

Bottler: Murray McDavid.

Region: Speyside.

ABV: 46%, cask strength.

Age: 29 years old. Distilled in 1973. Bottled in 2003.

Color: Light gold. No colour added, un-chillfiltered.

Nose: Floral and herbaceous, with a fair bit of sweetness. Lavender, but not in a soapy way, just sweet and fragrant. Vanilla bean, pears, beeswax, silky honey, and lemon drops. Soft dry grass, Ricola, some fragrant habanero, and slightly spicy olive oil. Morning dew. The whisky gets much fruitier and juicier as it sits – tangerine, honeydew, apricots. Old scrapbooks of pressed flowers. There’s a bit of worm-tub sulfur here too, almost like a funky camembert. My cohost in the tasting picked up mandarins, papaya, and pencil shavings, which I then found as well.

Palate: Medium-thin texture. Arrives very delicate, with lavender, fresh linens, citrus zest, and pear, turning to herbs – tarragon, rosemary, and a hint of mint. Mildly creamy. Perfumed strong and resinous oak here, with lavender and honey floating overtop. The oakiness evens out a bit as the whisky rests. A tiny hint of smoke buried deep in there. Seashells?

A dribble of water brings more fruit – orange and a little pineapple.

Finish: Fairly short. Dry oak, leather, tobacco, and dark chocolate. Nuttier here. Spicy ginger, honeycomb, lemon zest, and baked apples.

Possible SMWS bottling name: “100% ethically-sourced butterfly extract”

Notes: A beautiful floral whisky. Great complexity from those worm tubs, and some nice fruitiness too. It’s on the verge of being too floral and too oaky, but for me it pulls back just in time. The whisky I kept comparing it to in my head was Pittyvaich 30. I think this is better. Am I in the Linkwood Gang now, u/zSolaris? #LinkwodGang

Final Score: 87.

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.

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