Review #43: The Ultimate Whisky Company Linkwood 6 Year (2008) – Cask #800005

Distillery: Linkwood

Region: Speyside

ABV: 46%

Age: 6 years old, apparently this was bottled 7 days short of reaching 7.

Price: $4.50 for a 30 mL Sample

Color: 0.1, White Wine. Natural Color and Non-Chill Filtered.

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Nose (according to the wife): A load of fresh pears. It really warms the nose a lot.

Palate: Lots of fresh bosc pears, very fruity. Other than this one note, however, nothing about this tastes like a whisky. It tastes like really, really good soju. It has a very clean, crisp flavor which masks the alcohol well. With a bit of water, some fresh cut grass and creaminess comes out but it still tastes like soju.

Finish: Medium to short in length. Finishes slightly dry just like soju.

Conclusion: At 7 days shy of 7 years old, this is the youngest age stated Scotch I’ve tried. While the fresh fruit notes that I expect out of a good Speyside—and particularly a good Linkwood—are there in the form of pears, that is about the only thing that reminds me of whisky. If I were to drink this blind, I would think this is the best soju I’ve ever had (for those who haven’t had soju, it’s kind of like Korean vodka). I would never guess whisky. Pity.

Final Score: 68

Scotch whisky review #43, Speyside review #19, Whisky Network Review #60
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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection.
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.