Scotch Whisky Review #257: Lady of the Glen Linkwood 10 Year Marsala Barrique Finish

Distillery: Linkwood

Bottler: Lady of the Glen

Region: Speyside

Age: 10 Year. Distilled January 11th, 2011. Bottled January 15th, 2021

Cask Type: 8 years in ex-bourbon casks, 2 years in an ex-Marsala barrique.

ABV: 57.80%

Price: Sample courtesy of /u/b1uepenguin. His review can be found here.

Color: 1.5, Auburn/Polished Mahogany.

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Nose: (according to the wife) Tropical fruits and citrus, orange peels specifically, are first out of the gates. There’s a sweet, slightly umami and funky note that reminds me a ton of sweet balsamic glaze. A bit of old book mustiness follows. Towards the end is a hint of a pepper spice mix.

Palate: At full strength, the mouthfeel is perhaps the thickest I’ve ever had in a whisky. It virtually has the mouthfeel of maple syrup it’s so thick. It’s quite flavorful as well. You get a rich milk chocolate as well as malted milk biscuits. It’s somewhere between having a mouth full of Whoppers and chocolate covered biscuits. Quite delicious, though a tad of a one note wonder. When you add water, the flavors don’t seem to change at all, with the only noticeable change coming from with how thick the mouthfeel is.

Finish: Insanely long. You start off with more of those malt chocolate candies. Then that starts to fade and gives way to an absolute truckload of fruits. Red grapes, poached pears, apple compote, raisins, dried strawberries, and lastly apple chips all come in and out.

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Conclusion: This is the first of a batch of Lady of the Glen whiskies I have to try and boy are we off to a good start! This Linkwood is packed full of flavor. The nose gets us off with a very nice mix of fruity, savory, and funky. The palate is just a sweet snack delight. And then we have the finish. The rest of this was good, but the finish here is just on a completely different level. There’s so much going on and it lasts seemingly forever on the tongue. All of this leaves me wondering, where has this been hiding?! Needless to say, I would absolutely buy a bottle and perhaps even a spare or two.

Final Score: 87.

Scotch Whisky Review #257, Speyside Review #99, Whisky Network Review #398

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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.