Mirthful's Comestibles

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