Whisky : Linkwood 13 Year SMWS 39.195 “Starch of the penguins”

Country/Region : Scotland/Speyside

ABV : 59.1%

Cask : Refill Ex-Bourbon

Age : 13 Years (Distilled 24 July 2006)

Nose : Fruity floral with green apples, pears, fresh raspberries, musty grapes, and lavender candies.  Notes of marzipan, creamy honey butter, and condensed milk direct us toward to the pastry cart, while green grass and new bedsheets dredge up memories of the Sound of Music. 

Palate : Medium bodied with a mouthwatering dryness and loads of sugary fruits.  Malty notes of gingersnap cookies and milk chocolate pastries join fruity notes of lemon, oranges, fruit punch, pomegranate, and saltwater taffy.  Grassy sweet notes of crushed sugar cane precede an herbal turn on the backend with licorice and linseed oil.

Finish : Long and lingering malt whoppers, molasses, and a kiss of salt.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Prom Gymnasium Fruit Punch

Something Better : Red Snake #49; Blackadder (similar fruit punch, citrus, more spice and complexity)

Something Similar : Auchentoshan 18Y SMWS 5.70 (similar pomegranate, fruits, chocolate, less malty)

Something Similar : Ardbeg 12Y, 1975 (similar green earthiness, cotton thread, and malty honey oats)

Notes : This was spectacularly, and very oddly, popular at our recent local online tasting series.  I am not sure if everyone suffered some kind of mass psychosis or what.  I was not there, so I only had the notes and reports of others to go off, but apparently everyone was head over heels for this bottle.  They were absolutely seduced by the crisp fruity profile, lovely malty undertones, and herbal complexity.  I thought it was pretty good when I tried it before hand, but I have never quite reached the same level of euphoria that others did during the tasting.  My grading might be getting a little bit soft, but this was easily the best Linkwood I have had.

While I did not rate this as highly as the rest of the group and certainly did not feel compelled to run out and grab another bottle, I did still enjoy this.  It had a nice complexity and while there was a little heat from the spirit, a few drops of water brought it under control releasing more sweet fruits and sugar cane.  

Still, the best thing about this was probably the name.  I love penguins and I still remember going to see March of the Penguins in theaters and buying the DVD as soon as it came out.  I do not love penguins as much as my aunt thinks I do— this is one of those situations wherein someone finds out you love an animal and buys you things themed with that animal forever— but they are pretty awesome and so I wear my penguin boxers, penguin tie, and penguin socks.  I can vaguely see where the SMWS name comes in, this does have a faintly laundry/starch feel to it between some of the grassy and floral notes on the nose, but honestly, if this is what tide pods taste like, I would probably buy a few to snack on.