Another of the bonus samples from the SDT. This is one that I provided for the group. A 23 year old Linkwood from the independent bottlers at Cadenhead. 2 bourbon hogsheads were used to create 492 bottles. Distilled in 1992 and bottled in 2016, this Speyside single malt comes in at cask strength of 55.3% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of a shimmering gold. The nose is quite closed off at first, it really takes time and an archeologists skills to dig carefully through this one. Herbal and minty notes are dominant initially. Some fruits emerge, but on the light side, apples, green grapes, bananas, honeydew. A strong raspberry flavor comes in, but it’s not quite raspberry. More like blue razzberry flavored candy. Quite odd and unexpected but it’s definitely there. Vanilla, toffee, bubblegum with florals and grassy notes. I added enough water to bring on some scotch mist and got more toffee and mint. I got a malty note that wasn’t there before and some tangerines. I then added enough water to go beyond scotch mist and went full on 1952 London fog. I got some lime, soap, more tangerine, licorice, green oak and an aromatic quality. A lot to decipher, but sadly nothing that wowed me other than the raspberry, and that was just a puzzled wow. The palate was even more closed off than the nose. Quite hot if you go in unaware of its power, but it’s a weak jumble of flavors with no cohesiveness. Grassy with a little toffee and apples. Not much else neat. Water brings out lime, oak, honey, green tea, ginger and malty notes. A medium to full bodied mouthfeel that is both oily and not at the same time. Mouthwatering. The finish is medium length with lime, mint and grassy. I have to say I had very high hopes after @Joe_C proclaimed this to be one of the very best he’d ever had. I found this for $160 and pulled the trigger almost immediately. What a letdown it was for the hype and the price and the age. 3.25, maybe a 3.5 because of that crazy blue razzberry I got on the nose. Sorry Joe, it just didn’t do it for me. Cheers