Thursday 13 February 2020

Linkwood 1987 Cadenhead's (Blind) Review

Hi everyone,

Another blind review today.
As I’ve mentioned, I knew that one of these three samples was a 1987 Linkwood but I wouldn’t have ever guessed that it would taste like this! But then such is the nature of blind tasting. You can be surprised.
If someone had told me that this whisky was Tobermory, Glen Scotia, Port Charlotte or Longrow/Springbank I would believe them but Linkwood? No way.

Coniunctum Lignum
Colour: Gold
Body: Full
Nose: Woa-ho-ho!! Weird! Serious levels of funk, like nothing I've ever had, smoked cheese being BBQ'd? Very odd fruitiness like lime flesh maybe, maybe there's some raisin but they've been soaked in some weird alcohol, cheap brandy perhaps, plastic sheets.
Taste: Sharp and intense arrival, plastic sheets, lime juice and burning film cannisters? Who knows? Raisin and a little sherry perhaps. Quite spicy now, with intense raw pepper and ginger.
Finish: Long length. Spice appears as well as oak, a little lime and raisin lasting too.
What the hell was this? Very strange and intense whisky. I'm guessing there's peat and sherry involved but no idea as to the distillery or even region. Despite the weirdness, again I quite like it, though it isn't exactly balanced.
Guess: 20yo+ Sherried Tobermory? Though perhaps more realistically, this is likely the Linkwood.
Reveal: Linkwood 1987 Cadenhead's 58.4% Small Batch from two Sherry casks, bottled at 28yo. Such a strange one. It does settle down given some time but I still get these very funky and smoky notes from it.
73/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #840
Whisky Network Review #1009

Network Average: 75.2
Best Score: 94
Worst Score: 12
0-49 Terrible
50-59 Bad
60-64 Just About OK
65-69 Ok to Good
70-74 Good
75-79 Very Good
80-84 Excellent
85-89 Superb
90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as the Global Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

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