Review #188: 1997 Signatory Linkwood 20 year old Hogshead # 7552 Binny's Handpicked

Speyside - 20 - NCF - NCA - $100 - 54.6%

Linkwood is a Diageo owned distillery whose juice mainly ends up in blends such as Johnny Walker.  Diageo does few official releases but Linkwood pops up frequently in IBs.  The Linkwoods I have had tend to be light and fruity, this one isn't different.  

Color - Yellow Gold

Nose - Apples, pears, lemons, vanilla, wild flowers

Palate - Apple pie filling, baking spice, vanilla, honey, geraniums

Finish - Medium - Honey, stewed apples, sandlewood, spice and floral notes

Overall - 6.5 - This is a nice balanced dram.  The fruit and flowers flow from nose to finish.  The spice picks up on the palate and finish to round out the fruit.  Overall, a very balanced dram, very potable.  While balanced, it is not the most exciting thing I have ever tasted.  This is a worthy bottle for my shelf and will probably pick up another Linkwood IB when I finish it.  

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Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale
5.5 I really enjoyed but it will never be priced at where I would buy a bottle

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Overall 6.1

Standard Deviation 0.91

Skew 0.66

Kurtosis -0.16