Linkwood 15, Gordon & Macphail, 15 years, 43% abv.

Owned by Diageo, it is more famous as a component in blends than OB releases, although there have been several IB releases that have garnered fame, in particular this bottling.

Nose: apples and grapes, light syrup, general sweetness, no smoke but gives a slight smokey feeling, no wood.
Palate: spicy, wood and slight honey, after a few sips, the wood aspect is smoother, interestingly no young tofu/old steamed lotus leaf flavor.
Finish: short, a little dry, spicy feel, spice lasts long though.

To be honest not much going on. The aromas from the nose are better than everything I've had tonight and above the average dram in terms of quality. Palate isn't impressive and the finish is lacking. It's good as a starter, but needs help after that. Nothing bad, just nothing jumps out. Not sure why this bottling is famous, guess I've been reading too much into the marketing material or fell victim to whisky influencers. Other reviewers also don't seem to think too highly of this release.

Grade: C

Dramming.com, Oliver Klimek, 83/100
Whiskyfun.com, Serge, sgp:452, 87 points
Whisky advocate, Dave Broom, 83 points
Whiskysaga.com, Tone Skavhaug, 85/100
bestshotwhiskyreviews, Jan van den Ende, 82.5

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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