In recording my visit to Linkwood all those years ago I spoke of “…the pleasure felt in encountering a distillery so pleasantly located and so proudly cared for by its staff. The careful preservation of the shell of the original maltings and the malt kiln with its pagoda roof, whose classic outline is reflected in the waters of the small dam immediately in front of the buildings, gives great dignity to the combination of old and new at Linkwood”.

In 2012, the old buildings, which dated from 1872-3, when a complete rebuild of the original Linkwood distillery, founded in 1821 by Peter Brown, was undertaken by his son, William, were demolished. This was part of a major upgrade involving six new wash-backs and two new stills.

Unlike many of its neighbours, Linkwood has had a remarkably stable existence and has continued in production for most of its life. From 1821 (with distilling commencing in 1824) until 1932 it remained in the hands of the Brown family and their chosen successors. Linkwood-Glenlivet Distillery Limited had been set up in 1897 and on being wound up in 1932 the distillery was sold the following year to DCL’s subsidiary, Scottish Malt Distillers Limited.

Linkwood subsequently went through various stages of  reconstruction and renovation in 1962 and again in 1971, which involved the construction of a second distillery within Linkwood of four stills to run alongside the original two-still operation, which was eventually closed in 1985. As already mentioned, another major upgrade took place in 2012.

Against this background of progress and development, Linkwood has produced a much-prized whisky at the lighter end of the Speyside spectrum, much used by the blenders but also highly appreciated when bottled as a single malt.