Linkwood 14yo
North Star Spirits Series 024 | 57.5% ABV
Any Season Will Do
While us whisky nerds often have the existential dilemma of so many drams, too little time, we frequently find ourselves pondering over what dram to set our cap at next, whether it’s trying or buying.
Speaking for myself I now find a fun additional layer of quandary. Since I’m lucky enough to be invited to share my cogitations on the amber nectar as part of the Dramface team, I often find myself scratching my head about what to review next.
It's usually the newest bottle purchase which pushes itself to the front of the queue, recommending itself for attention. But what to do when you find yourself in the happy position of having a small but interesting backlog of relatively recent whisky purchases, all bustling for position in that same queue?
I thought I might take my lead from the change of season, and reach for something peaty, sherried or ideally both. With the wind picking up and the rain coming down, surely now is the perfect time to delve whole heartedly into some earthy, peaty and deeply sherry-bodied depths? Well I thought so too, but sometimes an unseasonably floral and light-heartedly fruity dram just keeps beckoning to you, and Autumnal weather be damned.
After all, it’s certainly true for many of us that whisky can be said to transport us to another time and place, so why not another season? And maybe this is the dram to teach me the lesson that there is truly such a thing as an every-season pour; something you will want to reach for come rain or shine. If such a thing exists, then I would like to make a case for this bottle fitting the bill rather well.
With only one official core bottling to the Speyside distillery’s own name as far as I know, the 12-year-old Flora & Fauna, we have seen Linkwood gaining ever-increasing popularity with whisky fans in the form of independent bottler releases, providing plenty of variety and playfulness in their expressions and finishes of the Linkwood spirit. To date, prior to this, I have tried a couple of different expressions from Edinburgh-based indie bottlers Fragrant Drops, a recent enjoyably fresh, citrussy and fruity 12-year-old Tequila Cask finished number, and prior to that, their juicy Linkwood 2013 first-fill bourbon cask 10-year-old, released towards the end of 2023.
I tried this North Star Linkwood 14-year-old on three separate occasions over nearly as many months, before finally deciding to review it here. The first time was in the form of a sample from a generous industry friend, and looking back at some tasting notes I took at the time, that single quaff provided a mini explosion of light and joy during an otherwise rather dark time personally. So, naturally, it has stuck in my mind.
The next time was when I attended my first ever North Star tasting at The Pot Still in Glasgow, where I was interested to see how the Linkwood fared when sampled again, this time next to several other intriguing and new-to-me drams from the indie bottler, and in the excitement of a memorable night out.
Review
Linkwood 14yo, North Star Spirits Series 024, 2023 release, 588 bottles, refill sherry butt, 57.5% ABV
£56 and still available
If memory serves, it was dram three or four in the line-up that night, and once again it easily grabbed my attention, out-shining at least one older and arguably more distinguished dram, and standing at least neck to neck, if not on the shoulders of several others. At the price offered, it was a no brainer that a bottle would be coming home with me.
But time passed, other bottles were purchased and opened, and I still hadn’t opened the Linkwood to try again. So the other night, when a prime opportunity presented itself, I finally reached for the funky red labelled delight, waiting patiently on my whisky shelves to make my further acquaintance (anybody else enjoy the North Star labelling?).
With a satisfying pop of the cork, a glass was poured and even with my attention directed elsewhere, those first few sips gave me that pause which a truly delicious whisky always does, almost regardless of where you are or what else you might be doing at the time – that “oooh” moment where time stops for a few delightful seconds, and your taste buds tug your otherwise scattered consciousness onto a single, slightly-awed, point of focus. One of the many things I love about this whisky journey.
So let’s pop the cork on this bottle once more, and see what it delivers this time around.
Nose
Icing sugar dusted, buttery, home-made shortbread, Fruit Salad chewy sweets and strawberry laces, delicate florals.
Palate
A slightly oily, waxy mouth feel brings texture, then it’s hello to zingy apples and zesty, lemony, citrus up front. This is followed on further sips by gentle notes of marzipan in the form of sweet Battenburg cake, and thick vanilla custard filled doughnut. Light pepper on the finish, delivers a little warmth to balance the sweetness.
Adding a drop or two of water doesn’t change the nose much for me, but sweetens up the palate a little more, softening the citrus intro a bit and bringing more of that creamy custard to the fore, leaving the peppery warmth in place to finish.
The Dregs
Another chum had already waxed lyrical to me about the 17-year-old Linkwood Oloroso Sherry finished 2023 release, which she’d secured a bottle of at a North Star tasting at The Good Spirits Co. in Glasgow this summer, so I had high hopes for this iteration. But, saying that, the 17-year-old was nearly twice the price of this one, perhaps due to the slightly greater age statement combined with the Oloroso Sherry finish. The bottle notes on the 14-year-old state refill sherry butt, without specifying any further details about the cask type. While a little more info would be handy, I’m not going to quibble at this price point and level of quality.
While I didn’t get the chance to try the 17-year-old for comparison, this expression certainly offers great value for money; a not unimportant point in the current climate. And it’s something I’m noticing that North Star does well on a fairly consistent basis – focusing on providing good and often great quality drams, at a fair and accessible price. Something which is to be celebrated at a time when other producers are inflating prices beyond all reason, playing fast and loose with dedicated fans, and arguably losing a good deal of their hard-won credibility in the process.
It has been said before now that the unique character of a distillery’s spirit should be allowed to sing, and careful use of a refill sherry butt here means that the original spirit is not overpowered. A quick perusal of my copy of the latest edition of the Malt Whisky Yearbook informs me that the Linkwood spirit tends to deliver a floral, grassy and fragrant nose, with a slightly oily texture leading to sweet marzipan notes and a citric finish. While not an exact match of my own tasting notes above, the similarities speak for themselves – the wonderful Linkwood character is truly allowed to shine through here, in all its floral, citrussy glory.
If you’ve got this far, you can probably tell I’m quite fond of this liquid. Who needs a man for all seasons, when we have a dram for all seasons, am I right?
For me it’s sunshine in a glass, an almost guaranteed mood booster. There’s a bold, winner-every-time assurance to it, balanced by a careful handling of the original distillery character, and a complexity of flavour that holds my interest - and yep, the price is right to boot. For me therefore, it’s not just average, it’s not just good stuff; it’s very good indeed, and fully deserving of the 7 out of 10 Dramface score I’m awarding it.
Here’s to more of this sort of thing (careful now).
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. PMc