Whisky and other wonderful things

This was the selection at the September meeting of NMWL Trondheim. All are Diageo Rare Malts series, and hence OB.

Glen Albyn 1975, 26 yo, 54.8%

Nose: Chemical, pine needle detergent, resin, new wood.

Palate: Resin, malt, sweetness.

Comments: Very leggy. Tastes better than it smells, but overall a great whisky. Nice and smooth on the palate but with a (pleasant) “sting”.

Score: 8 out of 10 

Linkwood 1975, 26 yo, 56.1%

Nose: A little unpleasant just at first, needs to breathe. A bit sharp. Malt and something berry and floral.

Palate: Black currants and black currant bush on the finish. Malt and vanilla.

Comments: Needs to breathe in the glass for a while. Nice, but boring. Not a particularly good Linkwood.

Score: 7.5 out of 10

Blair Athol 1975, 27 yo, 54.8%

Nose: Spice, toffee, red berries.

Palate: Spice cake.

Comments: Very, very pleasant.

Score: 9 out of 10

Dufftown 1975, 21 yo, 54.8%

Nose: Butterscotch, acetone.

Palate: Malt, acetone, then some christmas cake, with ginger (a bit soapy) and cloves rather than cinnamon.

Score: 4.5 out of 10

From the dates it’s obviously 13 or so, but the label says 10 years old.

Nose: Malt, flowers, green apples.

Palate: Loads of malt, a hint of spice and more apples.

Comments: A nice Linkwood, but hardly mind-blowing.

Score: 6.5 out of 10

Nose: Too much alchohol sting to be very pleasant, but what can you expect? Toffee, sweet – possibly baked – apples. Water takes the sting away, but doesn’t do much else, I find a little spice now that I can inhale properly, but that’s all. The nose is a little unexciting on the whole.

Palate: Drinkable at 61%, spices and heat. With a splash of water something vegatational appears, woody towards resin, and a little bitter.

Comments: Miles away from the best Linkwood I’ve had, but not a bad dram.

Score: 6 out of 10

Nose: Red apples, quite a lot of alchohol sting for 43%, cheese.

Palate: Something grassy, a little spice.

Comments: Probably the most boring Linkwood I’ve ever had. Still, being Linkwood  it goes down gratefully enough.

Score: 6.5 out of 10

Nose: Creamy, fudge, vegetational, broccoli, ham and leek pie – much the same with water.

Palate: A lot of alchohol, cream. With water it acquires a vegetational note, tending towards wood/cask. Needs a lot of water.

Score: 7 out of 10