It took a while but Torsten Paul Whisky Company is finally back with a new release in his Scotch & Tattoos series! A 4 year old Linkwood. Wait what?! Yes, you read that correctly, except it is actually 5 years old….
Due to a mistake on the label, it now looks like it is only 4 years old. But in reality, this Linkwood matured for 4 years in a bourbon barrel, before being finished another year in a 1st fill bourbon cask.
A daring release such a young Speyside whisky, but I happen to know from reliable sources (Torsten himself?) that he isn’t afraid to experiment a bit and do things a little differently than you might expect. But that also keeps things interesting, doesn’t it? And so is this youngster, because this is quite possibly the youngest single malt I’ve ever seen from the Speyside distillery, let alone tasted. But I do like a nice Linkwood and so I am very curious about what this one will bring. Especially because this bottler released quite some nice single malts.
This Linkwood has been bottled at a strength of 53% ABV.
Linkwood 5 year old tasting notes:
Nose: powdering sugar. A hint of oatmeal and tea biscuits. Pears and red apples, but also unripe bananas and a hint of peaches. Some vanilla. And later also lemons in the back.
Taste: also oatmeal here but very in the back. Lots of pears too though. Powdering sugar and vanilla. And plenty of fennel. Slightly peppery, pink peppercorns. Also a touch of ginger.
Finish: mid-long and quite spicy, pink peppercorns mostly, but also pears and apples again.
I really expected it to be very spirit-like, but it isn’t. It has quite a lot of cask influence for such a young single malt. Very nice nose, although the taste remains somewhat behind. But not bad at all. And very nice to be able to taste such a young and above all surprising Linkwood!
Sample provided by Torsten Paul Whisky Company and many thanks to Danilo for the lovely photo!
