Much like the Glen Moray of a little while ago, the Linkwood is another bottling that is not for sale through ‘regular’ channels. And by regular, I mean any. If you want to try this, you have to be in the know, or spend a boatload of cash on Catawiki to get a sample from them.

A nice incentive for us whisky nerds that are spending money anyway… You might as well get something extra for it.

Anyway, Linkwood, from Speyside. A bit of a mixed bag compared to many distilleries. Some are ridiculously good, some are utter trash. Within the ‘Noord Holland’ section of the Usquebaugh Society (of which most of us are no longer a member, but we still do tastings every now and then) there still is a running joke about a Linkwood we had years ago. It was a remarkable whisky that stayed with us, and not because of how good it was…

So, it is with that in mind that I approach every Linkwood nowadays. Although, I have to admit there have been some belters, and when Linkwood is true to the distillery character it sometimes has a bit of a beer like character which I really enjoy. So, let’s find out!

Sniff:
Buttermilk, lactic acid, butter. That kind of stuff. It veers towards Caramac bars. Slightly herbaceous with hints of pine and resin.

Sip:
The palate brings a bit of vanilla and milky caramel, without going in the direction of buttermilk and lactic acid. Quite hot, with pepper and alcohol bite.

Swallow:
The finish shows that thick caramel and cream again, with Werther’s original. ‘Boterbabbelaar’.

This is a tough one. On one hand it does something fairly unique, with a sharp focus on lactic notes that are not all that common. On the other hand, it’s not necessarily better for it.

When I hosted a little tasting with the four whiskies from the CataWhisky series I had available, this one caused a lot of discussion. Some people really enjoyed it, more so than the Glen Moray. But for me, the Caramac bars in liquid form didn’t do it. Can’t win them all!

82/100