The phrase "already a hint" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when indicating that something has been suggested or implied previously in a conversation or text.
Example: "In the previous chapter, there was already a hint about the character's true intentions."
Alternatives: "previously suggested" or "implied earlier".
A weekend at Harvard might prove enticing, but there was already a hint of a decision.
On Saturday there was already a hint of them evolving into a more attacking side; with the new arrivals, that appears more plausible.
There is already a "hint of a signal" showing that extreme rainfall has increased in this country, although mean rainfall has not yet significantly shifted.
While the season's preview collections will go on through January, there is already a hint of the look to come, with a focus on sleek leather coats at Michael Kors and Alexander Wang, for example.
As violence rose she noted that "there's already a hint of the score-settling that we so fear".
But then there had already been a hint of conflict in their first scene together.
Already, even a hint of an accounting irregularity can cause Wall Street to flee a company's bonds and stocks en masse.
We already see a hint of the problems to come in the existing knockout stages, when host cities empty even if they have matches still to stage.
The band name and song title already set a hint of horror, and their lyrics were written as though they were intended for horror B-movie scripts, with old Indonesian villages as the setting.
There has already been a hint of the corporate touch in Mr. Abramovitz's enormous showcase, and in the obvious concern for the television facilities used on opening night.
I have already had a hint of this message on my way across – skidding low over a rugged realm of blue and green on a 40-minute seaplane flight from Vancouver, the skyscrapers of the metropolis receding, to be replaced by the broken shards of the Gulf Islands.
