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Day 16 - KWM 2025 This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar

Posted on December 17, 2025

by Evan

There are so many distilleries in Diageo’s arsenal of whisky production that are not well known. When you are a megacorp that operates 28 malt distilleries in Scotland alone, you can’t really give each one a focus with regular single malt releases and a visitor’s centre. We talked about this with the Diageo owned Teaninich Distillery on day 7 in this year’s calendar, and we are back here again to talk about it today with this Linkwood KWM Cask, which was selected by us and bottled under the Single Malts of Scotland label by Elixir Distillers.

Linkwood Distillery was founded in 1821 by one Peter Brown; the owner of the Linkwood Estate it resided on. The distillery did not officially start production until four years later in 1825. Peter’s son William Brown took over operations in 1868 and built a larger Linkwood distillery that opened in 1873 in the same spot. William died in 1898, at which point the Linkwood Glenlivet company was created and went public on the stock exchange. The distillery was taken over by Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD) in 1933. SMD in turn became part of Distiller’s Company Ltd. (DCL) in 1936.

In 1971, a second distillery was built alongside the first. The second distillery was dubbed Linkwood B. Twinning a distillery is a concept that has been used a few times over the years. A few examples include:

  • For a while there was both a Glen Grant 1 and a Glen Grant 2. Glen Grant 2 only operated from 1898 to 1902, before reopening under the name Caperdonich Distillery in 1968, closing for the final time in 2002.
  • Clynelish underwent a similar cloning process in 1968, though the older, smaller distillery had its name changed to Brora in 1969 and then closed in 1983. That close was permanent – at least until the new and revived Brora opened once more opened in 2021.
  • In Japan, there is both a Chichibu Distillery and a Chichibu Daini (Daini translates to second, or two in english). The first, smaller Chichibu distillery was opened in 2008 by Ichiro Akuto. Chichibu Daini opened in 2019. The long term plan is for the first Chichibu to remain on the craft and experimental release side of things, while Chichibu Daini will eventually offer more consistent and sustainable releases.

While both Linkwood A and B were in operation, the new make from the two would be vatted together before being put into cask for maturation. In 1985, the old Linkwood A was closed, leaving Linkwood B to be the primary Linkwood Distillery. The older Linkwood A was used for production for a few months each year between 1990 and 1996, but then fell completely silent and was eventually demolished in 2012.

The Dram Drone At Linkwood Distillery

From The Single Cask: The Dram Drone At Linkwood Distillery

Linkwood distillery’s whisky has long been revered as a top dressing malt and sought after by blenders, which have found that a even just a little Linkwood in your blend can go a long way. It has been a key ingredient in Johnnie Walker for ages, and the likes of Compass Box and other premium blenders cherish it as well. Gordon & MacPhail puts a larger range of Linkwood Single Malt than its own parent company Diageo does.

If you have had any Linkwood single casks from indie bottlers or tasted a few Compass Box blends over the past few years, it is easy to understand why seemingly Everybody Loves Linkwood. The distillery produces light, unpeated and accessible spirit that packs more than enough flavour and complexity to make it hold its own in blends or be left alone as a wonderful Single Malt. Linkwood creates a light spirt rich in floral, fruity, and waxy notes that is somehow capable of coming alive in ex-Bourbon casks or standing up to a bold first-fill ex-Sherry butt. It is a versatile whisky that plays well with others while still managing to play the lead and dominate a scene.

Single Malts Of Scotland Linkwood 2010 KWM Cask 312688 – 56.8%

Andrew's Tasting Note

Nose: decadent, doughy, and floral with bags of juicy fruit; bread & butter, plum, and sticky toffee puddings; dried apricot, fresh orange peel, and cantaloupe; ginger snaps, cinnamon stick, and subtle wood spices; toasted marshmallow and floral top notes.

Palate: juicy, decadent, and toasty with loads of fruit and sweet treats; more bread & butter, plum, and sticky toffee puddings, the latter with a distinct note of fig; add to that some butter tarts, pecan pie, and tarte tatin; more toasted marshmallow too, but now in a s'more; baked apple, dried apricot, orange oil, and grapefruit peel; toasty with woody spices: licorice root, cinnamon sticks, and pickled ginger; runny honey and dewy summer flowers.

Finish: warming, decadent, and toasty with fading spices and soft fruits.

Comment: this is a gorgeous, layered, and elegant Linkwood that just doesn't quit; I could have kept going on my tasting note, but there is more than enough there for you to get the drift; it's rather delicious, but that shouldn't come as a surprise, we wouldn't have put our name on it otherwise; great value too! 

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Full of orchard and stone fruit notes, along with the enticing Linkwood floral/yeasty/beer notes. Waxy honeycomb, wine gums, elderflower, vanilla bean, nectarines, ripe apples, and tapioca pudding.

Palate: Pleasantly mouth coating and silky texture-wise, with notes or assorted jelly beans, ginger and elderflower liqueur, poached peaches and pears, and Danish pastries filled with apples and cream cheese.

Finish: Long, silky and smooth fade with plenty of floral and fruit notes and touches of tingly wood spice. Reminiscent of late harvest Gewurztraminer.

Comment: This is so lively and so decadent. A juicy, silky, and delicious teenage Linkwood. Fantastic stuff.

Cheers,

Evan

evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com

This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Distillery, Independent Bottler, Tastings - Online Tasting, KWM Single Cask, KWM 2025 Still Not An Advent Calendar Tastings

 

 

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