Lucky for us whisky fanatics, Whiskybase keeps bottling nice things for every ten thousand bottles that are added to the system. That is apart from the Whiskybase Plus bottlings, Archives and every other thing that comes out from the people in Rotterdam.
This time it’s a Linkwood at a decent age and a fairly ridiculous ABV. Of course, there’s a lot to say for cask strength whisky, and I prefer to get things as pure as they get, but this one is not for the light-hearted.
Linkwood tended to be hit or miss, with some pretty mediocre bottlings having been released in the past, but they have been on a roll the last couple of years. That is to say, the independent bottlers have been on a roll in picking some solid casks.
Sniff:
Austere with notes of grass, sand, straw and some sherbet like milkiness. A hint of turpentine too, so quite an old fashioned whisky. This is very interesting. There is a note that I do recognize, but I don’t know from what.
Sip:
The palate is fierce, but not as much as I expected from its nigh 60% ABV. The flavors are rather gentle, with hints of dry oak and straw, a bit of honey and some pastry cream.
Swallow:
The finish is a bit more straight forward with the high ABV coming through here. A little bit of vanilla to go with the pastry cream. Oak, barley, straw. Austere with some minerals and heather.
For a change, this bottle share filled up rather quickly. Probably due to the track record of Whiskybase and the decent price for a 15 year old single cask. In this case, I wouldn’t have mind to have a couple of centiliters more. It’s a very enjoyable dram, even though the ABV is really high. It bites, it kicks, but with a bit or warm-up you will be able to tame this one enough to be very delicious!
88/100