Linkwood-Glenlivet 1987
Cadenhead’s Small Batch 28yo | 58.4% ABV
Score: 9/10
Exceptional.
TL;DR
Showcases the very best of what can be discovered in Linkwood
Forced Lockdowns and Forced Slowdowns
Once a week, three friends and I come together online to play a game called Football Manager, also known as FM.
As the name of the game suggests, we play the role of football club managers, making decisions over various facets of the club, which can be as small as day-to-day training regimes, or as large as big-picture business strategies. Of course, we manage the team against other teams as well. It started during the lull during COVID, and it has persisted since.
In the game, we are held accountable for how well the team plays and, if we are deemed not good enough by the in-game “board” of the club, we can be sacked. What happens after we’re sacked? Like in real life, we would have to look for a new job at a new club and start again from there. The best part is that there might not be a job immediately available, so one might be forced to wait while the other three plays on. If it does sound more like work than play, I don’t blame you, sometimes the “stress” of the game does remind me of work.
To say that we are addicted to this game may be an understatement. We started by planning default three-hour sessions but, in the very early days, we tended to play beyond the allocated three hours, until one of us decided it was enough for the day, or simply needed to stop for other engagements. During the period of Lockdown, there were very few.
One day, a session planned for three hours somehow turned into six, and we decided that we needed some boundaries, so it was agreed that the default should be fixed at four hours with a self-enforced hard stop. Needless to say, our significant others remain happy with that arrangement.
There are some parallels between FM and whisky as a hobby. Most notably, both can lead you down unexpected rabbit holes in the form of curiosity about knowledge and information.
Football, as with most professional sports, is a hugely sophisticated operation and to the credit of Sports Interactive - the creators of FM - they have managed to create a game that simulates those sophistications to be entertaining yet challenging for football enthusiasts. This encourages us to do our own deep-dive research into modern football tactics, for example, how modern teams set up when they have the ball versus when they don’t; how certain roles complement others on the pitch, etc. Much like whisky, the journey of education is endless.
So you believe you’ve found a winning formula? Your opposition will adapt. Do you think you’ve finally signed the perfect player for your team? It turns out that he doesn’t get along with his teammates and fails to adapt to his new surroundings. Remember how I said it can resemble work and we have to answer to the “board” of his club? The board is also a very dynamic part of the game. If your club is a traditional powerhouse, it might expect you to be challenging for silverware every year; on the other hand, if your club is a minnow, your board would treat a mid-table finish as an achievement. Again, the team at Sports Interactive has to be applauded for creating such a dynamic computer game.
In general, playing the game is an ongoing problem-solving process, how you solve specific problems is up to you, and there are no correct answers. Additionally, even when you think you’ve responded well to situations, you may still not get rewarded because of bad luck, and vice versa. After all, the game is a simulation, which means outcomes are probabilistic, and the probabilistic nature is part of what makes the game so engaging and addictive. Real life is probabilistic after all.
We can all agree that COVID was a terrible thing, but hopefully most of us have found silver linings; a lot of us got into whisky during those lockdowns, and the four of us got into the routine of weekly FM sessions, offering a much-needed distraction to the stresses of life at the time. Just as whisky lingered afterwards, so did FM for us, and this routine has lasted until today in 2025.
On one fateful day, during one of these sessions, I poured a generous dram of whisky on the side, this 28-year-old Linkwood from Cadenhead’s. Over the four hours, I very slowly sipped the whisky, adding drops of water intermittently. This was one of the first instances when I’ve truly appreciated what time and water can do to a whisky, especially an old and dignified one, to borrow some SMWS language.
Ralfy has always advocated “one minute in the glass for each year in the cask”, and this was the day that I realised that this rule should be treated as a minimum. By enjoying the whisky for over four hours, I’ve unfolded an extra dimension of the whisky that would not have been discovered had I rushed it. More on that in the review proper.
Whisky forces us to slow down, mostly because of its high alcohol content, and only by slowing down can we appreciate what whisky has to offer. Of course, that is true, but I would like to argue that there is an extra level: if you slow down because you’re forced to, you’re leaving part of the experience on the table, only when you mindfully choose to slow down can you appreciate the full extent of what the whisky has to offer.
Before this four hour experience with the bottle of Linkwood, I’ve always thought I had taken my time with whisky. Ralfy’s rule of thumb suggests I should leave an Arran 10yo in the glass for ten minutes before drinking. Sometimes I wait the full ten minutes, sometimes I jump the gun slightly, but at least I don’t finish the drink within two minutes.
But this experience was an epiphany, taking my time can be a matter of hours, not minutes. Depending on the whisky, your mileage may vary. Some simpler whiskies may reach a plateau sooner than you might hope, but with a high ABV cask strength whisky, I can confidently say that it has a lot of layers for you to explore, but only if you afford it with time and patience.
Review
Linkwood-Glenlivet 1987, Cadenhead’s Small Batch 28yo, two refill sherry butts, 58.4% ABV
£245 paid
Score: 9/10
Exceptional.
TL;DR
Showcases the very best of what can be discovered in Linkwood
Nose
The grapefruit I so adore from Linkwood is here, but not expressed in the same way that younger bottles do, the grapefruit here is coated with wood spices.
Of course it is also accompanied with other orchard fruits: red apples, peaches, pears, oranges and pineapples, they’re all here, but the grapefruit takes centre stage.
After some time and water in the glass, a new “character” shows itself - sweet cherry tomatoes, or even ketchup. The orchard fruits are still present but have taken a step backwards and the cherry tomatoes are shining bright. Even after 28 years in the cask, the nose is still so fresh, crisp and vibrant, at 58.4% ABV, it is spirit-forward, but it doesn’t come across as aggressive or hot.
Palate
Soft, woody grapefruits majestically make their way to the front, and spices tag along, but they don’t take away from the savouriness of the grapefruits, rather the spices complement it. The arrival is such an event that it coats my mouth and demands my attention, but not in a shouty way, rather it’s like a soft-spoken person who commands the room with authority because of their aura.
The arrival of a whisky rarely takes up so much of my attention, but such is the case with this whisky, so much so that plenty of time and copious amounts of water were required for me to move away from the arrival and parse out what comes afterwards, and act two is no slouch either. Orchard fruits from the nose make their presence known, primarily apples and pears, but the fruit basket continues to deliver, peaches, oranges, pineapples, lemons, limes… and a fizzy undertone keep the whisky fresh and zesty, the elegance is not lost, but the vibrancy refuses to go away. The zesty vibrance stays for the finish, the grapefruits and apples stay on to see you out, and when you think they’ve gone, look back, and they’re still there waving goodbye to you.
A bit fantastical? Visit an authentic Japanese omakase restaurant and you will know what I mean, the chef will see you out of the restaurant when you leave, and they keep waving until you’ve turned the corner and are out of sight.
The Dregs
As I review this whisky, I have already worked through three quarters of the bottle, and I have always had the impression that it’s been fully matured in ex-bourbon casks. Through some research, it was revealed to me that it is a vat of two butts, presumably refill ex-sherry. The notes above are written without this realisation, and I’m perplexed.
Having a 28-year-old whisky at 58.4% is astonishing, I’ve seen a lot of whiskies above the age of 20 and the ABV is at most in the low 50s. With such a high ABV, the whisky remains very vibrant, and there is a lot of room to play around with water. Because of the complexity of a high-age whisky, every teaspoon of water added to the glass brings out a different layer, which is what this whisky offers. Splendid, simply splendid.
Let’s address the price. At £245, it’s something I try to nurse, if memory serves, I bought this bottle in early 2022, and still, I think I’ve rinsed through it too quickly. Different writers at Dramface factor price into their scores at different extents, and I’m not sure where in the spectrum I stand, but such is the quality of this whisky, I think it’s priced fairly, so the 9 given here is fully deserved. The only reason I haven’t given this a 10 is because I have tasted even better whiskies, but how much would those whiskies cost? I reckon at least three to four times as much.
This is Linkwood at its best, and thank you Cadenhead’s for showcasing it at its best.
Score: 9/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. MMc
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