linkwood distillery
3) the linkwood distillery is named after the nearby burn of linkwood - which supplies cooling water .
dark spice and strawberries abound this 15 year old from the linkwood distillery. more info
in 1971 a second distillery with four stills was built next to the old distillery. the technical specifications of the new distillery were different (the new distillery used condensers as opposed to the cast iron worm tub that was used at the old distillery), so there are two distinctly different distilleries on the premises; linkwood a (the old one) and linkwood b (new) .
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1) founder peter brown ran the linkwood distillery for almost half a century, between 1821 and 1868 .
peter brown founded the distillery in 1821. at its inception, the site had only two stills, and whisky operation wasn' t entirely legal yet. the distillery formally began operations in 1825, after whisky distillation was legalized. brown' s original distillery operated with only one wash still and one spirit still. brown actually ran the distillery for over fifty years, until his death in 1868. brown' s son, william inherited the distillery, and demolished the original distillery to make way for the distillery today .
this means that linkwood started legal whisky production not too long after glenlivet distillery that claims to be the first legal distillery. if the historical information is correct, peter brown ran linkwood for almost fifty years until his death in 1868. his son william inherited the distillery and demolished it four years later to make room for a new one. construction of a brand new linkwood distillery began in 1872 and was finished two years later, in 1874 .
the mashtun of the linkwood distilleryoriginally, the distillery used its own floor maltings, but now the distillery sources its malts from one of diageo' s industrial sources in speyside. linkwood distillery uses a combination of peated and unpeated malts, which are used for different distillation process, depending on the destination of the single malt being distilled .
the two stills are increased by four. technically, the four new stills belong to a new distillery sometimes referred to as linkwood b .
the brown family stayed involved with linkwood until 1897 when it was taken over by the linkwood - glenlivet distillery co. ltd. in 1902 robert innes cameron became a board member of the company and over the years his influence grew. innes cameron eventually became director of linkwood and chairman of the malt distillers association. in 1933, one year after innes cameron passed away, linkwood distillery was taken over by scottish malt distillers ltd. (smd). this marked the beginning of a few relatively uneventful decades until a major refurbishment of the distillery in 1962. the specifications of the' old' linkwood distillery remained unchanged .
the distillery was again rebuilt in 1962 and a new four still stillhouse (called linkwood b) was built in 1971. this ran alongside the old two still distillery (then called linkwood a) until 1985. linkwood a was then demolished last year and the two stills were rehoused in an extension to linkwood b. this extension also holds six new washbacks, but more about those later .
peter brown founded the distillery in 1821. at its inception, the site had only two stills, and whisky operation wasn' t entirely legal yet. the distillery formally began operations in 1825, after whisky distillation was legalized. brown' s original distillery operated with only one wash still and one spirit still .
the parking lot infront of the stillhous of the linkwood distillerylinkwood draws the water used in its production from the milbules spring, which flows beside the distillery. the production capacity of the distillery stands at an impressive 3. 5 million liters a year. the distillery has gone through a series of renovations and refurbishments. in 1971, a second still house was built, which uses six large washbacks, as opposed to the older distillery, which uses five smaller ones .
the flora and fauna series released 12 year old from the speyside distillery, linkwood. whisky magazine awarded this an
editor' s choice
. more info
some sort of a finish? it overwhelms the distillery character. too bad, because the core is good .
linkwood (or rather: the first of the two linkwood distilleries) was founded in 1821 by peter brown. that means that it was founded when whisky distillation was still (sort of) illegal. however, it wasn' t until 1825 that production actually started at linkwood distillery .
the original distillery was built in 1821 on the southern outskirts of elgin by one peter brown. however, his distillery was completely demolished and rebuilt by his son william in the 1870s. a new stillhouse with four new stills was added in the 1970s andis now the focus of malt production – the old washbacks are the only part of the old distillery still in use today .
a 12 year old from linkwood distillery in speyside. distilled 2000 with one cask producing 762 bottles in 2012. one of four single cask malts released by wemyss malts in january ...
the tour finished in the manager' s office, which is located across from the main distillery building. here we enjoyed a tasting of the linkwood 12 years old, which was deliciously light, zesty and grassy. we were able to look at some photos of the old distillery and recent extension works, plus ask further questions of eric and pierrick. linkwood is a lovely distillery and we thoroughly enjoyed our tour of it. the way that the old and new sections have been put together is very good .
single malt from the linkwood distillery, drawn from a single refill hogshead and independently bottled by langside. this 10 year old expression was distilled in 2006 and matured until 2017, when it… more info
an indie bottling of single malt scotch whisky from the linkwood distillery, drawn from a pair of hogshead casks which matured said whisky for 22 years - from may 1995 to december 2017. more info
the linkwood distillery is located on the outskirts of elgin and was founded in 1821 by peter brown. he remained in charge until his death in 1868, when linkwood was inherited by his son william. he rebuilt the distillery in 1873 to increase capacity and it was again doubled in capacity in 1897. linkwood became part of scottish malt distillers, a subsidiary of the distillers company ltd which would later go on to form part of the current owners diageo .
a brick wall with the letters linkwood placed on themthe speyside distillery of linkwood has a very slim selection of official bottlings for prospective buyers to choose from. official releases from the distillery have been very rare, and mainly limited to diago' s flora and fauna range, as well as united distiller' s rare malts range. there have also been a number of independent bottlings of linkwood by such bottlers as gordon & macphail, duncan taylor and douglas laing .
the glenlivet code is a limited edition bottling from the famous speyside distillery that offers no product information on the bottle or p ...
the small speyside distillery of benromach is celebrating two anniversaries this year – 120 years since it was originally built and 20 ye ...
22 year old single malt from the linkwood distillery in speyside, independently bottled by signatory. it was distilled back in may 1995 and allowed to age in a pair of hogshead casks which were… more info
the vast majority of the spirit distilled at linkwood is used is such diageo - owned blends as johnnie walker and white horse. however, the distillery also sells of much of the spirit to other blenders .
is the distillery or brand you' re looking for not on this list? check out the' brands' page for more ...
a single cask whisky from linkwood distillery aged for an amazing 24 years. distilled on the 5th of december 1989 and bottled by montgomerie' s for their single cask collection in march 2013. tops. more info
a single malt scotch whisky from the linkwood distillery in speyside, drawn from a pair of bourbon barrels which matured the whisky for 18 years, from november 1998 to may 2017. following that, the… more info
this is an 11 year old single malt from the linkwood distillery, independently bottled by that boutique - y whisky company. as with the rest of the boutique - y bottling, the label features a reference… more info
founded in 1821, the distillery sits in a tranquil setting overlooking the dam of the linkwood burn. the water that makes linkwood whisky comes from millbuies springs, and makes a fine, smooth and complex whisky; just it always has, through wars and depressions, takeovers and closures .
this quaint distillery sits on the river lossie, close to elgin in speyside. established in 1825, peter brown and his son famously built the reputation of linkwood over 70 years. they were followed by manager roberick mackenzie who vehemently resisted any changes being made to what his two predecessors had established. rarely seen as a single malt distillery bottling, demand for linkwood has always outstripped supply, despite a new still house being added to run alongside the original in 1971 .
the linkwood distillery sits in elgin, drawing its water from the springs of millbuies loch. next to the distillery is a large and rather beautiful reservoir which plays host to a variety of local wildlife including ducks and swans, the latter can be seen gracing the label of the twelve year - old bottling. linkwood is home to two stillhouses, linkwood a, which is currently not in use, houses the two original stills and linkwood b, in which a further four stills operate. the distillery has a capacity of 2. 24 million litres per annum and the majority of the whisky produced is used for blending, notably in johnnie walker. thanks to diageo there have been, of late, several single malt whiskies released from linkwood. in 2008, three twenty - six year - olds were launched, notable for their 50cl bottles and having spent the last fourteen years of their maturation in either rum, red wine or port casks. there have been quite a number of independent bottlings in recent times, joining a few special editions and the flora and fauna twelve year - old. the linkwood distillery was founded in 1821 by peter brown and rebuilt fifty - one years later following william brown’s inheritance of the distillery in 1868. linkwood is currently under diageo ownership following scottish malt distillers takeover in 1933 and their subsequent amalgamation to form the drinks giant .
linkwood always evokes thoughts of sweetmeats. this one seems a particularly sweet interpetation .
this 16 year old sherried whisky from linkwood was released at the 2013 whisky show in london. the label shape is inspired by vintage old bottles of linkwood .
this distillery by the banks of the river lossie is every bit the idyll of a country distillery, with its woodlands and resident population of swans. legend has it that longtime manager roderick mackenzie thought the environment so important to the taste of linkwood, he forbade the removal of spiders’ webs from the rafters in case the character were to change. great care is still taken to maintain its high standards, though the cobwebs have been removed .
the construction of a second distillery next to the old one wasn' t unusual for smd; they did the same with clynelish (constructed right next to brora) and glendullan (where another distillery was built under the same name) in 1972. the twin stills approach was' en vogue' a few decades ago, but these days the expansion of production capacity is realised in other ways. the old distillery (linkwood a) was closed in 1985, but it was reopened again in 1990 - not to go into full production again though. linkwood' a' makes whisky for just a few months per year. at least, this was the case until fairly recently. nowadays' linkwood b' may be the only distillery running again with only the washbacks of' linkwood a' being used. with six large washbacks the new distillery has more of those than the old distillery, which has five smaller ones. the stills of both distilleries are heated by steam. linkwood has built a strong reputation with blenders over the years and these days most of the whisky is used in blends; notably johnnie walker and white horse. the vast majority of the malt whisky that is produced at linkwood is still used for blends and for a long time the only official bottling from the distillery was a 12yo expression in the' flora & fauna' range. this situation changed in 2008 when diageo released three different' finishes'; rum, port and' sweet red wine'. while the concept of finishes is hardly unusual these days, these bottlings had some noteworthy features. for one thing, the age of these releases was 26 years and the double maturation lasted for more than half that time: 14 years. the size of the bottles was unusual too; just 0. 5 litres as opposed to the regular 0. 7 litres (for europe) or 0. 75 litres (in the us) .
a cask inside the linkwood warehouselinkwood has a series of onsite warehouses, which are both dunnage and racked. littlewood is aged in a combination of american oak and spanish sherry casks, which are selected from a series of distilleries and vintners in america and spain that the distillery has a long - standing relationship with .
distillers company limited (dcl) launches their series the ascot malt cellar which includes linkwood 12 years .
the pot stills of the linkwood distillerylinkwood distillery has three wash and three spirit stills. the wash stills each have a capacity of 15' 000 liters, while the spirit stills each have a capacity of 17' 000. both the wash and spirit stills have a pear shape, with large, spherical lids, and tall conical necks. the spirit stills spherical lids are wider than that of their wash counterparts, allowing for slightly different distillation flow in the still. the distillery is one of very few in scotland that has not one but two still houses. today, only one is used, with the original house having lain silent since 1996. the second still house was added in 1971 to increase the distillery' s production capacity. rumors say, that the second still house was started again for production .
in 2012, the old building was demolished as part of yet another upgrade. this time six new washbacks were installed in a new distillery along with two new stills. capacity is now in excess of 5. 5m litres per annum .
linkwood is a part of diageo' s portfolio of distilleries, having been in the possession of scottish malt distillers / distillers company ltd since the 1930s. shortly after the dcl takeover in 1936, the distillery was run by a superstitious gael called roderick mackenzie, who famously refused to remove even the cobwebs in the stillhouse in case it affected the quality of the spirit .
. this tour takes in four of diageo' s single malt distilleries around the elgin area of speyside that are not normally open to the public - glen elgin, glenlossie, linkwood and mannochmore. our guide for the trip was eric walker, the senior site manager in charge of the four distilleries. so, on a bright spring saturday morning we boarded a minibus full of european malt fanatics and headed for linkwood, our first distillery of the day and one which we knew very little about .
our tour was led by pierrick guillame, the new trainee site operations manager at linkwood, who was supported by eric. linkwood was the first distillery that eric worked at when he started in the industry 35 years ago and he has a clear affection for it. as we head to the mashing room, pierrick explains that they have five malt bins at linkwood and each holds a staggering 28 tonnes of malted barley. it takes an hour for each bin to be filled. the malt is produced mostly within diageo' s own facilities and current strains being used include belgravia and concerto. this is then milled down in the porteus mill in four hour sessions to produce their grist .
tour and it is difficult to pinpoint why that is. we hope that it is not the last time that we visit linkwood ...
smooth and medium bodied, linkwood single malt scotch whisky is a hidden speyside treasure, full of the characteristic fruit and flower scents of the region .
well known to whisky connoisseurs, linkwood is most commonly seen as an independent bottling, as owners diageo only rarely issue official releases. discover more »
linkwood is another of the light speyside camp. the new make has the aroma of a spring meadow – mixing cut grass, apple and peach blossom .
it was completely rebuilt in 1874 by his son william and existed as an independent distiller, run by an elgin - based whisky broker, until 1932 when it joined the dcl stable. it has remained in production ever since, with regular upgrades taking place, most significantly in 1972 when a new distillery was built opposite the old buildings .
located on the outskirts of elgin (though now within its ever - growing suburbs) linkwood was established in 1821, but only started production in 1824. owner peter brown was the factor [ manager ] of the linkwood estate and wisely kept his nose clean until the 1823 excise act was on the stature book .
linkwood always evokes thoughts of sweetmeats, sometimes delicate, on other occasions more robust. this is in the latter mood: down - to - earth sweetness .
2) robert innes cameron (manager and later owner of linkwood between 1902 and 1932) also owned three other malt whisky distilleries: benrinnes, tamdhu and teaninich .
the introduction of the new washbacks and additional two stills has raised linkwood' s annual production capacity to 5. 6 million litres. the pair of stills were originally connected to a wormtub condenser in the old section of the distillery and produced a different style of spirit as a result. in the new extension they are using column condensers and thermal imaging equipment was used to make sure that they were mimicking the performance of the other four stills. the result is that all three pairs of stills now produce light, grassy spirit .
there’s just a hint of smoke in amongst linkwood’s verdant garden. it’s this cigar - box tang which signals the complexity and depth held within, and keeps the drinker coming back for more .
26 year old linkwood single malt, aged in a sherry wood cask from december 1989 to january 2016. this mackillop' s choice bottling was a release of just 180 bottles. more info
a brilliant write - up, guys. having pedalled through the laich of moray last week i can confirm that it is ideal distilling country (i passed benriach, longmorn, and brackla but didn' t spot linkwood). the 12yo is not one i' ve had for a while but remains a firm speyside favourite. really delightfully fruity and poised. i think it' s great to have more detail on blogs such as this one about the recent expansion programmes and what they do to the' feel' of a distillery. you tackled this modern trend within the industry very astutely over the course of the piece. bravo !
a single cask bottling of 20 year old linkwood single malt, distilled in june 1997 and bottled in march 2018. yet another smashing release from signatory' s cask strength collection. 226 bottles were… more info
5) the linkwood malt whisky is used in important diageo blends like johnnie walker and white horse, but a lot of it ends up in the blended whiskies of other whisky blenders and bottlers as well .
lighter than light linkwood is a malt beloved by blenders, and this cadenhead - bottled 24 year old expression doesn’t deviate from the delicious norm – but it does ramp up the fruit. this one is… more info
a duncan taylor bottling of 26 year old linkwood single malt, drawn from cask # 5046. this was distilled in october 1990 and allowed to age for just over quarter of a century before being bottled in… more info
a strictly limited linkwood, independently bottled by càrn mòr. this was distilled in 2006 and matured in a pair of hogshead casks for 11 years, until they were cracked open in 2017. 830 bottles were… more info
an 11 year old single malt from linkwood, independently bottled by the folks from claxton' s. this was distilled in 2006 and set aside to age in a single bourbon hogshead before being bottled at cask… more info
a 20 year old single malt from linkwood, aged in a refill hogshead from june 1997 until august 2017. following that. douglas laing came along and bottled it up for their old particular range. only… more info
from the long - running old malt cask indie bottling range comes a 20 year old linkwood single malt, matured in a single refill hogshead from june 1997 to august 2017. a release of 297 bottles from… more info
a chorlton whisky bottling of linkwood single malt, matured in a hogshead cask for 11 years. it was bottled at cask strength, with only 49 bottles produced. a snowy scene appears on the label - … more info
18 year old single malt from linkwood, independently bottled by the single cask (not only are they indie bottlers - they have their own whisky bar in singapore !). this was distilled in june 1995 and… more info
4) linkwood is one of a few distilleries that has two different still houses - not unlike balvenie and macallan. the second still house was constructed in 1971 and the original still house has not been used since 1996 .
a 26 year old single cask linkwood, bottled by bartels whisky for their highland laird range. it was distilled in 1989 and left to age in a bourbon hogshead for 26 years, when it was then bottled at… more info
next stop was the still room, which is now an l - shape following the addition of the recent extension. the new section is home to one pair of stills, which were actually previously housed in the old part of the distillery that was knocked down during the renovation. these had not been used since the mid - 1990s. the older section has two further pairs of stills and the two parts have been integrated in such a way that it feels like it has always been like that .
if you were ever going to bottle a 42 year old single malt scotch whisky from linkwood of natural colour and at a cask strength 40. 9% abv, you could only ever release it in a range called the cask… more info
released as part of diageo' s rare malts range, a 26 year old bottling, distilled in 1975. a rare speyside malt from linkwood. this bottle was part of a private collection - if you' d like more… more info
linkwood 17yo 1990 / 2008 (48% , adelphi, c # 9734, 204 bts .) nose: fruity, honeyed and a little flowery. the faintest whiff of oil perhaps? pleasant, but little more. taste: dry and a little gritty. a faint sweetness in the background. a hint of liquorice in the medium dry finish. score: 81 points - this is a sister cask to last year' s linkwood c # 9733 from adelphi, but not quite as impressive .
linkwood is bottled as a 12 - year - old in diageo’s flora & fauna range, and for many years quasi - official bottlings have come from gordon & macphail of elgin – often from ex - sherry casks. other independent bottlings appear fairly regularly .
it' s the second batch of linkwood bottled by that boutique - y whisky company! that chap on the label is fixing trigger' s broom, which he got a medal for - he' s been using the same broom for 20 years. … more info
upon moving to the washback area, we took a detour in to the operations office. this was built last year as part of the distillery expansion and from here the entire production site can technically be monitored by one person, although more are employed at the site. what was slightly reassuring was that despite all of the technology, much of the paperwork still has to be recorded by hand for inspection by the customs & excise department. tun room no. 1 has five washbacks, each of which can hold up to 57, 000 litres of wort and taking around four and a half hours to fill each one .
the mash room is actually part of a much bigger open plan room that also house five fermentation washbacks and an operations office. this is the old part of the current distillery, which was built in the early 1970s. the mash tun is quite new and was installed in 2011. it holds 12. 5 tonnes of grist and they use three waters to extract as many of the soluble sugars from it as possible. each water is added at an increased temperature (68°c, then 76°c and finally 86°c) to achieve this. an interesting stat from eric at this point was that each mash will end up producing 12, 500 bottles of whisky .
linkwood 11yo 1984 / 1996 (43% , signatory vintage, butt # 5458). nose: mellow and slightly grainy. warm milk with a dash of aniseed? peaches. definitely not from a fresh sherry butt, but it' s quite pleasant and accessible. more and more organics with time - and maybe a hint of smoke? a little bit simple taste: fruity and slightly dusty with a very faint hint of perfume. a little bitter. it doesn' t take very long to grow drier, flatter and smokier. loses points here. score: 79 points - not terribly complex and the palate of this linkwood keeps it from the 80' s .
these were not all (official & independent) bottlings of linkwood scotch whisky i' ve tried over the years. besides, these tasting notes only reflect my own, personal opinion; your tastes might be different from mine. fortunately, you can find the scores and tasting notes from up to two dozen other whisky lovers in the' malt maniacs monitor' - an independent whisky database with details on more than 15, 000 different whiskies from scotland and the rest of the world. visit the linkwood page on the mmmonitor and select' scorecard view' if you want to know how other whisky lovers felt about the dozens of linkwood expressions that were released in recent years. however, if you' d like to learn more about whisky in general (and single malt scotch whisky in particular), you might want to check out the beginner' s guide to scotch whisky (10 chapters filled with everything you need to fully enjoy and appreciate a glass of single malt whisky) or the malmanac (sort of a rudimentary whisky shopping guide. )
2008 - three different official bottlings of linkwood are released. the peculiar thing is that all three are' finished' malt whiskies (a second maturation in casks that previously contained rum, port and' sweet red wine') and especially that these' finishes' lasted for 14 years - longer than the initial maturation. the fact that diageo was able to release these in meaningful quantities gives us an interesting insight in the expectations of the management at the time. 2009 - the bottom of one of the spirit stills is replaced. 2011 - production at linkwood ceased for four months, from march to july, for refurbishment and replacements. parts of the wash stills are replaced and a new stainless steel mash tun is installed .
linkwood 13yo 1990 / 2003 (43% , jack wiebers whisky world, castle collection, c # 1922) nose: light and quite grainy - very similar to the teaninich 10yo at first. as i suspected, quite boring. after a minute some very faint spices emerge. then something oily and' farty' as well. rice crackers? the oily component definitely grows stronger with time, but so do the organics, adding one or two points. taste: malty and quite bitter. feels a tad syrupy. no obvious flaws, but nothing to sing about either. score: 73 points - quite boring like the teaninich 10yo, but that one has a sunnier disposition. this linkwood needs at least fifteen minutes before some sort of personality starts to develop .
linkwood has long been prized by blenders, and the vast majority of production goes into diageo' s johnnie walker and white horse blends. the standard expression is the flora and fauna 12yo, but this was joined in the official bottlings in 2008 by three double - matured versions that had spent their last 14 years of maturation in port, rum and red wine casks. independent bottlings are relatively common and are frequently excellent value .
linkwood 12yo 1990 / 2003 (46% , hart bros, sherry cask) nose: aaaah. old, dry, good sherry. amontillado? leans very much towards' farmy'. complex organics. an absolutely smashing nose - this one really takes no prisoners. that being said, it seems to run out of steam after fifteen minutes. something metallic? taste: very sherried. winey & woody. tannins. very extreme - a tad too much so? smokier over time. very dry. no sweetness at all. not quite as enjoyable as the nose. score: 86 points - it' s not often that i encounter a malt whisky that' s too sherried for me. i adore the profile of the nose of this linkwood (especially the' farmy' twist) but it' s a bit too much ...
linkwood 15yo (43% , gordon & macphail licensed bottling, bottled + / - 2010) nose: concentrated strawberries and animal feed. lovely complexity and evolution, but light at the same time. taste: fruity and smooth with some organics lurking in the background. smoke. great, medium sweet finish. score: 88 points - wow, this is a really fantastic batch of this old favourite. it developed an attitude !
linkwood 1989 / 2004 (43% , the spirit safe, 385 bottles) nose: light and grainy. vaguely fruity. prickly in the top of my nose. a bit weak. it opens up a little after a minute. much, much more character after a while. barley and other' good grains'. some light fruity notes as well. pears and plums. over time it showed lots of unique organics, almost lifting it into the upper 80' s. taste: fairly weak start followed my a perfumy phase. a fleeting flash of sweetness. it' s not quite sweet enough for my tastes and grows a tad uneven towards the finish. score: 83 points - this whisky had some strange personality deficits, but lots of character. this linkwood is still not too impressive on the palate, but i can live with that because of the nose .
linkwood 16yo 1990 / 2007 (49, 3% , adelphi, c # 9733, 269 bts .) nose: spicy & fruity start, settling down quickly. gooseberries? then sharper alcoholic aromas appear, evolving into greater complexity. taste: starts out on the oily side, then a short herbal episode, then a long sweet centre. hint of liquorice. score: 85 points - this one needed time to reach a recommendation for silver in the malt maniacs awards .
the whisky produced at linkwood is used across diageo' s extensive portfolio of blended whiskies, particularly in the famous johnnie walker range. it is also highly sought after by other blending companies and features in numerous well known brands. single malts are rare as a result and only 1 - 2% of warehoused stock is released as such. it is largely confined to the independent bottling companies. the only current official release is a 12 years old expression, which forms part of their
when mature, however, although linkwood' s freshness is retained the palate reveals a thick texture which slows the whisky down in the mouth. it is this combination of texture and delicacy which makes it prized by blenders – and much loved by malt whisky aficionados. the fragrance is achieved by creating very clear wort, having a very long fermentation and distilling (slowly to maximise copper conversation) in pairs of stills in which the spirit is larger than the wash, allowing even more copper contact .
linkwood 16yo 1990 / 2007 (58. 7% , single malts of scotland, sherry hogshead, c # 5038, 283 bts .) nose: a classic sherried profile. some vague musty notes in the background. a pinch of sulphur? taste: big, chewy and fruity. hot start, cool centre. a lovely evolving sweetness. a tad gritty in the finish. score: 89 points - but it definitely needs a few drops of water to polish off the rougher edges .
linkwood 12yo 1989 / 2002 (59. 2% , blackadder raw cask, c # 5624) at almost 60% , any bottle i would have tried after this would have suffered from its' shadow'. nose: very rich and spicy. mocca? then more developing organics. clay? chalk? rotting fruits - something' fermenty'. complex, but it seems deceptively simple. very interesting and quite complex, but it shows hardly any development over time. with water it mellowed out a bit. the mocca and coffee notes were brought forward. wait, now it opens up. maggi and oriental spices. this one earns an extra point here. taste: sweet and powerful. fruity. a great mouth feel, but few lasting impressions. adding water didn' t improve the palate of this whisky - it turned dry and quite bitter. too bad. score: 86 points - this linkwood is quite an amazing drams that shows just a few' flaws' .
the new 2013 extension is partly home to tun room no. 2 - this is home to six further washbacks and each is the same size as the originals. in both cases 205 litres of creamed yeast is added to the wort and this allows fermentation to begin quickly. the fermentation time is around the 75 hour mark and this helps to create the grassy and floral notes that makes linkwood so desirable amongst whisky blenders. the new extension has a more clinical feel to it but somehow seems to retain the character of the older section .
linkwood 1991 / 2005 (46% , wilson & morgan, sherry wood) nose: sherry. polished. fruity. spices are next. an upbeat malt. hint of balsamic vinegar in the background. more serious with time; organics. polished. great development over time; growing complexity. hint of sulphur? taste: not as cheerful as the nose. sherry. little sweetness. hint of liquorice. quite dry. some tannins. score: 88 points - but the lovely nose warrants a score well in the 90' s. the best of speyside & spain .
linkwood 36yo 1973 / 2010 (50, 4% , the nectar daily dram, belgium) nose: passion fruit. hmm. lots of passion fruit. perhaps too much, drifting in the perfumy part of the spectrum. over time some minty notes emerge. liquorice all sorts? still, the perfumy remains a distracting influence for me. taste: very sweet and fruity start, followed by some organics. plastic? beer? more pleasant than the nose. score: 84 points - which is an average of (initially) an upper 70' s nose and an upper 80' s palate .
linkwood 21yo 1989 / 2011 (61. 7% , signatory vintage for lmdw, sherry butt, c # 3207, 303 bts .) nose: a lovely sherried profile, leaning to the sweet side. raisins. turkish delight. blackberry jam. prunes? after a few minutes the occasional whiff of organics. quite a sting in the nose at cask strength. tea leaves. palate: the sherried profile on the palate matches that of the nose perfectly. quite dry. fairly mild tannins. score: 89 points - with a little more tannins in the finish (i like those !) it would have reached the 90' s .
linkwood 19yo 1989 / 2009 (53. 5% , the clydesdale, cask ref 0034 / 1841, 209 bts .) nose: light and fruity; slightly citrussy. odd fruits. some subtle organics emerge after a few minutes. however, the organics can' t keep the score in the 80' s. somehow, this seems like a wine finished whisky. taste: very smooth start; quite sweet. peanuts? dry, gritty centre. harsh, bitter finish. hint of perfume? score: 79 points - this doesn' t really feel like a malt whisky that' s almost twenty years old. a tired cask ?
linkwood 12yo 1988 / 2000 (43% , sigv, sherry butt # 2790, d. 31 / 05 / 1988, b. 24 / 10 / 2000, 912 bottles) nose: sweetish and a little fruity. sweet malt and a hint of dust, just like a handful of malted barley. nice. it grows a little' dirtier' over time. i imagine this is easy to drink by the bottle. not overly complex, though. taste: bittersweet fruity burn. more orangy bitterness later on. chewy fruits at the end of the long finish. score: 78 points - a very decent single malt, and one that grows much more interesting with time .
linkwood 1973 (49. 7% , twe fine old malt whisky, bourbon cask matured, bottled + / - 2010) nose: polished and slightly fruity, with a surprising hint of peat in the background. some sharp spices. curry? mustard? lovely evolution over time as well, but it remains beautifully balanced. shortage of personality? taste: perfectly drinkable at almost 50% abv. or should i say perfectly chewable? lots of tannins present. a fairly smooth start with lots of wood, growing much hotter in the centre. cools down in the tannic finish. score: 89 points - a perfect example of a complex, finely aged malt whisky without any rough edges .
linkwood 11yo 1988 / 2000 (43% , sigv, sherry butt # 2786, d. 31 / 05 / 1988, b. 06 / 01 / 2000, 932 bottles) nose: a big sherry monster. lovely organics. toffee? oh yeah, i love these extreme sherry monsters... taste: phew! big sherry attack! smoke? cool and minty in the centre, dry and woody in the long finish. extreme. quite a contrast with c # 2790 (see below) on the palate. that one is arguably better balanced... score: 83 points - i adore the xlnt nose but it' s not convincing enough on the palate for the upper 80' s .
linkwood 1990 / 2009 (45% , gordon & macphail for la maison du whisky, cask # 6964) nose: heavy with fruits, chocolate and some coffee. burnt coffee beans? hints of spices & something meaty. sulphur. a pleasant enough profile, but it somehow feels forced and a little artificial. too much of a good thing? after circa thirty minutes the spices have become the most important element in the bouquet. taste: smoky, woody and quite flat - not nearly as good as the nose. syrupy and quite drinkable, though. smoky, bitter finish - a tad too extreme to end up in the upper 80' s. they went a little too far with this one? score: 82 points - there' s a hint of sulphur in the nose, but it' s so subtle that i don' t mind too much. in fact, if it wasn' t for the' embargo' on mm awards scores, i' d increase mine to 83 or 84 points ...
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a whole garden of fruit and flower scents in a smooth, long, complex speyside of distinction .
the more you taste, the more you find, the greater the rewards .
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both plants ran until 1985 when the original ceased production, although it was still used as an experimental site – it was here that a lot of diageo’s research into copper, reflux and the effect of worm tubs took place. in the late 1990s it was on the shortlist to become the speyside representative in the classic malts range .
a sister brand to abbot’s choice, chequers was an occasional deluxe blend from john mcewan & co .
a sherry matured, 36 year old single malt, distilled in 1946 and bottled by gordon and macphail. more info
innes cameron, a whisky trader from elgin, joins the board and eventually becomes the major shareholder and director .
reproduced from the malt whisky yearbook 2009 with the kind permission of mr ingvar ronde .
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now you can find both of john rose' s superb articles about collecting whisky in one place. in collections, he looks at some of the latest bottles to come up at auction. in questions, he fields your enqu ...
a good example of bourbon cask maturation (a refill ?). there is a constant bitterness but it is quite refreshing, like a grapefruit. a few drops of water bring out a sweet note .
? that sweet fruit note persists. mango coulis, more runny honey, peaches and cream. it has an almost liqueur like cling to the palate. vanilla and nutmeg .
a classic malty beast. well balanced. a winter warmer to enjoy with nuts and crispy nibbles .
that malt could easily be thrown in a calvados blind tasting, with aged oaky individuals .
a dour character which lifts up on the nose but not on the palate .
a strange fellow. as if all was delivered in a dash. then the finish seems to never end .
a bourbon cask maturation followed by a rum finish? take your time to enjoy this sunny dram. really subtle .
oak is leading the way but in an elegant way. a very spicy dram. to be matched with a beef stroganoff maybe .
i couldn' t decide if this lacked a little, or was just subtle. pleasing enough, aging with prettiness, but didn' t do enough for me .
big cask character, with spirit style just poking through. the spirit seemed at odds with the cask perhaps .
this is a wonderful bottling. it has the suave and brooding character of mr fox in jemima puddleduck .
the aromatics are almost railroaded by the spices… but not quite. in the end, it comes up smelling of roses .
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bottled from refill american oak hogsheads and refill european oak butts filled in 1978. a total of 6, 114 individually numbered bottles were released as part of diageo’s 2016 ...
if you’re a big gin drinker you’ll probably sit up when you hear that it was originally popularised due to its diuretic qualities. modern day london
gins are basically neutral spirit flavoured, either by compounding or distillation, with juniper and various other seeds, berries, roots, fruits and herbs .
musicians used to be judged on their record sales. today digital downloads are the measure of a musician’s popularity. similarly, 20 years ago when i
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a few weeks ago we headed north and paid a visit to the annual spirit of speyside festival. one of the highlights of our trip was a special tour, which is only run once a year during the festival, called
the view from the new tun room is also one of the highlights of the tour. one side gives a view over the limited number of warehouses that remain on the site, but the real gem is from the other side. this gives a perfect elevated view of the old pagoda and malting buildings, which are now also used for warehousing. eric tells us that pagoda is actually called a doig ventilator, after its victorian creator charles doig. the architect, who designed numerous distilleries in the speyside region, drew inspiration from japanese architecture to create the iconic symbol of many distilleries. the function was to draw air and smoke through the drying malt in the kiln, which would have a fire at its base.
the linkwood distillery is a whisky distillery in elgin , in the speyside region of scotland . it is owned by the drinks giant diageo . the distillery was built in 1821 by peter brown with two stills , and started production in 1825 with a capacity of 4,500 litres per year . the distillery was operated by james walker until browns death in 1868 , after which the distillery got under control of his son , william brown . between 1872 and 1873 william brown , the son of peter brown designed and built a new distillery with help of architect methven , replacing the old one on the same location . the new distillery had a capacity of 227,000 liters per year . after william browns death , the linkwood-glenlivet company was created by browns family in 1898 and brought to the stock exchange . the distillery was then further extended to a capacity of 454,000 liters per year . in 1902 innes cameron joined the linkwood-glenlivet company and became managing director of the linkwood distillery until his death in 1932 . by that time he was the largest shareholder of the company . the company was sold to scottish malt distillers , which itself was bought by united distillers . after temporary closure between 1941 and 1945 as a result of barley shortage during the world war ii , the distillery reopened in 1945 under roderick mackenzie , who led the distillery until 1963 . mackenzie who believed that all things in the distillery contributed to the final product . in 1962 , scottish malt distillers decided the distillery needed to be completely refurbished . mackenzie oversaw the rebuilding of the distillery in his last year as general manager . the distillery was electrified , replacing the steam engine and water wheel that powered the distillery before , and all stills were replaced with exact replicas of the former stills . in 1971 the a second distillery was built alongside the first , which became known as linkwood b , with steam heated stills . the stills of the first distillery were converted by heated by steam as well . with the build of linkwood b the two distilleries reached its current combined capacity of 2.5 million liters per year . the distillery was mothballed between 1985 and 1990 . 
the linkwood distillery is a whisky distillery in elgin, in the speyside region of scotland. it is owned by the drinks giant diageo. the distillery was built in 1821 by peter brown with two stills, and started production in 1825 with a capacity of 4,500 litres per year. the distillery was operated by james walker until browns death in 1868, after which the distillery got under control of his son, william brown. between 1872 and 1873 william brown, the son of peter brown designed and built a new distillery with help of architect methven, replacing the old one on the same location. the new distillery had a capacity of 227,000 liters per year. after william browns death, the linkwood-glenlivet company was created by browns family in 1898 and brought to the stock exchange. the distillery was then further extended to a capacity of 454,000 liters per year. in 1902 innes cameron joined the linkwood-glenlivet company and became managing director of the linkwood distillery until his death in 1932. by that time he was the largest shareholder of the company. the company was sold to scottish malt distillers, which itself was bought by united distillers. after temporary closure between 1941 and 1945 as a result of barley shortage during the world war ii, the distillery reopened in 1945 under roderick mackenzie, who led the distillery until 1963. mackenzie who believed that all things in the distillery contributed to the final product. in 1962, scottish malt distillers decided the distillery needed to be completely refurbished. mackenzie oversaw the rebuilding of the distillery in his last year as general manager. the distillery was electrified, replacing the steam engine and water wheel that powered the distillery before, and all stills were replaced with exact replicas of the former stills. in 1971 the a second distillery was built alongside the first, which became known as linkwood b, with steam heated stills. the stills of the first distillery were converted by heated by steam as well. with the build of linkwood b the two distilleries reached its current combined capacity of 2.5 million liters per year. the distillery was mothballed between 1985 and 1990.
the linkwood distillery is a whisky distillery in elgin, in the speyside region of scotland. it is owned by the drinks giant diageo. the distillery was built in 1821 by peter brown with two stills, and started production in 1825 with a capacity of 4,500 litres per year. the distillery was operated by james walker until browns death in 1868, after which the distillery got under control of his son, william brown. between 1872 and 1873 william brown, the son of peter brown designed and built a new distillery with help of architect methven, replacing the old one on the same location. the new distillery had a capacity of 227,000 liters per year. after william browns death, the linkwood-glenlivet company was created by browns family in 1898 and brought to the stock exchange. the distillery was then further extended to a capacity of 454,000 liters per year. in 1902 innes cameron joined the linkwood-glenlivet company and became managing director of the linkwood distillery until his death in 1932. by that time he was the largest shareholder of the company. the company was sold to scottish malt distillers, which itself was bought by united distillers. after temporary closure between 1941 and 1945 as a result of barley shortage during the world war ii, the distillery reopened in 1945 under roderick mackenzie, who led the distillery until 1963. mackenzie who believed that all things in the distillery contributed to the final product. in 1962, scottish malt distillers decided the distillery needed to be completely refurbished. mackenzie oversaw the rebuilding of the distillery in his last year as general manager. the distillery was electrified, replacing the steam engine and water wheel that powered the distillery before, and all stills were replaced with exact replicas of the former stills. in 1971 the a second distillery was built alongside the first, which became known as linkwood b, with steam heated stills. the stills of the first distillery were converted by heated by steam as well. with the build of linkwood b the two distilleries reached its current combined capacity of 2.5 million liters per year. the distillery was mothballed between 1985 and 1990.