9 year old Linkwood drawn from a refill ex-bourbon barrel. Young & Spritely profile.
Nose: A sweet-toothed picnic basket. Nut-laden pastries, iced buns and profiteroles are joined by soured cherries, sugar-covered peels and a glass of zingy homemade lemonade. A short period of resting reveals deeper aromas of underlying earthiness – wet soils and mosses. The addition of water brings out the oak influence with some vanilla, but also some cream and soft peaked meringues.
Taste: Dessert continued with Eton Mess – meringue, raspberries and cream. This is followed by zingy sherbet, sharp citrus and tart grapefruit juice. Sweetness is restored in the back palate with a host of baked goods – biscuits, cakes and chocolate covered buns. There’s a slight rawness here – acetone - it leads to a touch of burn. Water works wonders – rebalancing the elements, but maintaining the overall flavour profile – still sweet, creamy and biscuity, but now softer and more syrupy. It also brings out some cask influence – pepper, ginger, even a hint of grappa.
Finish: Medium, drying and delivering prickly peppery spice.
This Linkwood is zingy and full of character, but it does (unsurprisingly at 62.4%) benefit from a good amount of dilution. In its watered form it offers a host of patisserie-forward flavours, and would make for an ideal whisky to start and evening with.