Scotland, Speyside. Distillery operational. Owner: Diageo

Speyside, the golden triangle of the Scotch whisky industry, is home to a huge concentration of distilleries. From the internationally renowned to those known only to a few, Linkwood included. The distillery's oldest bottlings come from Italian importers such as Samaroli and Darma Import. One of the most sought-after is the Linkwood 12 Year Old 1957, 56.9%, Samaroli Import. After this, bottlings from its owners United Distillers & Vintners (Diageo) were rarer and appeared primarily in the Rare Malts Selection, Flora & Fauna and Manager's Dram ranges. It was not until the early 2000s that a 1981 trilogy finished in port, rum and red wine casks was released, propelling Linkwood into the spotlight. One again, it was independent bottlers, including Gordon & MacPhail and Cadenhead, that drove this single malt and brought it to the public's attention, from ex-sherry casks to very old vintages such as the 1939.

A Linkwood 21 year old bottled by Gordon & MacPhail and imported to Italy by Mario Rossi. Distillers Company Limited (DCL) gave Gordon & MacPhail permission to bottle several of its single malts (Linkwood, Mortlach and Talisker) under license in the 1970s and 1980s. For each one, the bottler created its own label decorated with an eagle, giving the distilleries a visual identity still used by Gordon & MacPhail for its current bottlings. In the late 1980s, DCL, which had become United Distillers, recovered its licences, but Gordon & MacPhail continues to buy and bottle their whiskies. They are today part of the Distillery Labels range which features former licensed bottlings. These bottlings are of particular historical importance as they often acted as semi-official bottlings for the distilleries which until then had been overshadowed by the blends for which they produced malt.