Whisky: Linkwood 30 Year (1974), Douglas Laing Old & Rare Platinum

Country/Region: Scotland/Speyside

ABV: 43.6%

Cask: Oak

Age: 30 Years (Distilled 1974, Bottled 2004)

Nose: Woody, subtle florals, orange, pomelo, subtle layer of blueberries and blackberries with herbal flourishes of thyme and rosemary, antique tea chest.

Palate: Medium to light-bodied, fruit, pastries, wood, herbal-yeasty funk, orchard fruit, spice box, tea chest, almond.

Finish: Long, lingering, and slightly drying with nuts and an herbal-yeasty funk.

Score: 7-8

Mental Image: Pandora’s Antique Tea Chest

Narrative & Notes: The aroma featured a floral accent of lavender and bluebonnets with more prominent orange, pomelo, and grapefruit. Wood ran throughout with wooden work benches, homemade rocking chairs, and an antique tea chest stuffed with herbal delights. Pastry notes arrived with a graham cracker pie crust, while fruit and herbs combined to offer up blueberry or blackberry jam with thyme and rosemary. Medium to light-bodied, the palate featured a gentle transition from fruit, pastries, and wood to an herbal-yeasty funk that lingered through on the finish. Korean pears, quince, and pomelo arrived first with honey, butter, and biscuits. The fruit and pastries faded as antique spice boxes and tea chests spilled their delights. Subtle almond and pecan developed with a yeasty-herbal funk, occasionally a bit minty, that carried through on a long and slightly drying finish.

An excellent mature malt, this whisky has me coming around on, or at least rethinking, a few of the whisky biases that have become ingrained in my thinking.

First, I may be coming to appreciate the slightly sour, herbal, yeasty funk that comes at the end of some older malts. I am not totally sold on that note, it is not always to my taste, but in this instance, it fell in nicely with the broader arc of flavors that began with fruit and honey with a slow fade to wood and then raw nuts and the herbal-yeast notes. The finish was impressively long-lasting, and a little bit went a long way on this whisky.

Second, I had written off Linkwood a couple of years ago as a distillery whose style did not match up well with my preferences. I may have been a bit premature. While I will not be hopping on with any Linkwood Groupies, I have a better appreciation for what the distillery can bring to the table and how the malt transforms in interesting ways after a few decades in the cask. It might take three decades, but Linkwood, such as this, are excellent.

Overall, delectable.

Image Credit: The Whisky Exchange