🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

Nose Polish. Northern berry. Sweet plum jam. Ripe apricot. The taste is sweet and long-lasting.

Sweet and syrupy nose. Palate is sweet and honeyed, condensed citrus flavors. Cinnamon as it opens up. Finish is long with lingering sweetness, growing a tad bitter with some chew

Wonderfully balanced, full of body, delicious sweetness and no disturbing notes. It is just light enough for me to enjoy the summer months. Since many of my other favorites are too heavy, too wintry. Fits perfectly in the niche.

Bruichladdich is a somewhat small distillery compared to the other staple brands of its region of Islay but find a way to give us a product that stand alone in about every category there is. The masters at the distillery try many things each year and get on the market what I call designers scotchs. Usually in limited edition and bearing a specific trait compared to the classic unpeated line. The Links series is one of those lines and it sport a golf theme as each bottling represent a world famous link course, this one being the Valhalla club. The links series seems to be the first trial of refinishing the drams (before the Cuvee series arrived). This edition is a sherry finish cask. The bottle I have is the tenth bottling of the series and is limited to 18 000 bottles capped in 2008 at 46% ABV, the level the distillery is known to release their products. Some of the previous bottle were either 14,15 or 16 years old, this bottle is a 15.When poured there a deep caramel golden color to the drink. I am very surprised to see that no color was added in the bottling process (note on the bottle). That color is what the refilled sherry cask gave it I presume. When I take the first whiff in the glass I get a light apricot note mixed with some kind of sour wood aroma. Hard to explain clearly the odor but I can tell you I knew I was in for a renewed and pleasant experience with this Laddie. The first sip gave way to the classic iodine signature of the house. The taste then evolve and bring brown sugar and sherry notes. The sip finishes with discreet apricot/fruity hints and the sherry that has been the distinctive signature of the bottle. The ending is clean and dry like all of the unpeated Laddie it does not linger around for long and let you palate clean soon. Revisited-Verdict (90): I have to give a big thanks to Bruce for finding me this one as I was aware of those bottling since 2005 and was never able to find one. My final impressions on that scotch is that it shows the true pedigree of the house wrapped in sweetness. Far from being a woody bomb the bottling was/is a success from my stand point and has its place in my rotation as it will be a very nice change of pace for any type of scotch lover. The only problem is finding a couple as they are all limited bottling. Cheers! Rating scale: 0-50 Drink at your own risk I would not wish this dram on my worst enemy. 50-59 Uninteresting, something to serve to bad company. 60-69 Shows some interesting touch but nothing more than average. 70-79 Interesting Scotch, something to try before buying. 80-89 Nice Scotch, something to insert into the rotation without a doubt. 90-95 Superb Scotch, something to enjoy and share on special occasion with knowledgeable friends. 96-100 A one of a kind bottle that should be hoarded as much as you find and can afford. These do not come along often and are truly a jewels of the crown in a Scotch bar.

I've got of these, and they both have the signature from Jim McEwan