Linkwood 11 Year Old 2007 James Eadie

James Eadie is a young independent bottler – started in 2016 – run by Rupert Patrick who started his career in the wine business in 1988, but made the transition to whisky. He worked for MacLeod Distillers, Beam-Suntory and Diageo before going it alone. The name of the label is easily explained: James Eadie was his great-great-grandfather (1827-1904) who built a brewery in 1854. It remained active until sold to Bass in 1933. Next to beer, he also had a recipe for a blended scotch whisky that he simply called Trade Mark X. Rupert got to work with a bottle from the 1940s to revive the Trade Mark X. Apart from that he also bottles single casks and this is one of those which appeared last year. It’s a young Linkwood that slept on a first fill Pedro Ximenez hogshead for 11 years. At cask strength, of course.

Baked apples, candied sugar, gravy and cinnamon – that is the delicious nose in a nutshell. Very succulent and rich. Some nuts (roasted almonds and pistachio) and Turkish Delight. Becomes brighter if you leave it to breathe. What I mean by that is that the initial dark and sweet smell evolves towards fresher notes of gooseberries and blood oranges. Add some water and you’ll get a whole other dimension: herbal. Suddenly a truckload of green garden herbs appear.

Sturdy arrival on black pepper, lots of cloves and candied ginger, joined by sultanas, baked apples and candied sugar, but also coconut milk and almond oil. Then some baklava kicks in and there is no stopping the sweetness then. Very good. I’m impressed. Diluted it becomes very creamy and round and in my honest opinion much better.

The dark and sweet, spicy finish lingers very long, even diluted.

A liquid dessert that is the perfect accompaniment for coffee, but add some water first. Quite Moorish, if you know what I mean. Thx, Benny!

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