Linkwood

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.