Scotch Review #89: The Exclusive Malts Linkwood 14 Year (1999)

Distillery: Linkwood

Bottler: The Exclusive Malts

Region: Speyside

Cask No: 11978

ABV: 55.8%, Cask STrength

Age: 12

Price: $10 / pour

Color: 0.6, Old Gold. Natural color.

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Nose: Freshly baked apple pie, a lovely bit of lemon zest, and some fresh cut hay.

Palate: As expected with a Linkwood, there’s a lot of apple in the form of fresh ones as well as a bit of warm apple pie. There’s a lovely sweet, creamy, and toasted note that accompanies this and dominates the dram. It reminds me a lot of crème brulee and a bit of toasted marshmallows with a hint of smoke. A bit of caramel is in here as well.

Finish: Medium to short. There is a lingering bit of a toasted marshmallow along with more apple pie. There’s also some oak in here that gives a bit of a drying effect.

Conclusion: You’ll never have to ask me twice about trying a Linkwood. This one, at cask strength, is an absolute treat. There is apple throughout, which is lovely, but the main note here is the toasted crème brulee and toasted marshmallow. It’s absolutely wonderful throughout. I wish there was a little bit more to the finish as I think it would’ve made this a top dram. Would I buy a bottle? Absolutely.

Final Score: 87.

Scotch Whisky review #89, Speyside Whisky Review #37, Whisky Network Review #114

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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 (if feasible).
• 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.