Dublin-based online retailer thesinglemaltshop.com is celebrating the launch of a notably rare, exclusive single-cask bottling of a classic whisky from legendary Elgin independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail’s (G&M) Private Collection range. The whisky in question is a 1971 Linkwood, aged for half a century in an American refill hogshead and bottled at 42.4% ABV.
This incredibly precious liquid earned extremely high praise from leading whisky expert Charles MacLean and just 166 bottles are being released, with a retail price of €7,950. What’s more, the first 10 buyers of a bottle will receive a complimentary ticket to attend an exclusive, luxury launch event at Boisdale of Belgravia in London, hosted by Whisky Magazine, Charles MacLean and thesinglemaltshop.com.
Linkwood distillery is located close to the Speyside capital of Elgin and was founded by Peter Brown in 1821, although production did not begin until four years later. The Brown family retained ownership for the rest of the century, with the distillery ultimately passing into the hands of the mighty Distillers Company Limited’s Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD) subsidiary, and finally to Diageo.
In 1962, Linkwood was largely rebuilt, with SMD following its tried and tested method of replacing stills with exact replicas of their predecessors in order to preserve spirit character. Then, in 1971, an additional production area, Linkwood ‘B’, was added to the site. Ultimately, the buildings of the older Linkwood ‘A’ were demolished in 2012, and the following year two new stills were installed, taking annual capacity to 5.6 million litres.
When it comes to rare examples of ‘veteran’ Linkwood spirit, Charles MacLean declares, “Malts distilled before innovations of the 1970s, as this Linkwood 1971 was, open a sensory window on the past. They are themselves liquid history, and as such are hugely emotive. From a collector’s perspective they are so rare they are sometimes described as ‘unicorns’ – gorgeous mythical creatures. A combination of these factors makes such malts highly desirable to connoisseurs, collectors and investors.”
Gordon & MacPhail was established in Elgin during 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail. In 1915, John Urquhart joined the firm and soon established a formidable portfolio of maturing whiskies, before ultimately taking over the business. Successive generations of his family have continued to own and operate G&M up to the present day. Thanks to the Urquharts passion and foresight, G&M now boasts an unrivalled inventory of single malt casks, some dating from before the Second World War. It is no exaggeration to say that the company has played a crucial role in the renaissance of single malt Scotch whisky.
A notable feature of this 50-year-old 1971 bottling is that it was distilled on Thursday 25 November, soon after the distillery was extended with the creation of an entirely new distillery, Linkwood ‘B,’ which had four additional stills and sat alongside the existing two-still Linkwood ‘A.’ Until ‘A’ ceased regular production in 1985, the spirit from ‘A’ and ‘B’ was vatted prior to being filled to cask, meaning that this liquid is likely a product of the two sibling sites and is thus a blend of both eras of the distillery’s history.
Linkwood was (and remains today) a prized spirit for creating the most complex blends. On account of this, in the ‘70s almost the entire output of the distillery was destined for the blending vats, with only a far-sighted company like G&M laying down casks of this precious spirit in high-quality wood for future single malt releases.
Whiskies as rare and desirable as this 50-year-old G&M Private Collection 1971 Linkwood bottled exclusively for thesinglemaltshop.com don’t come along very often. Inevitably, casks of such well-aged and high-quality spirit are very few and far between, and no one is more skilled at nurturing them to great age than G&M. With just 166 bottles available, demand is sure to be high, and the opportunity for the first 10 purchasers to receive a complimentary ticket to the luxury launch event for this fabulous one-off whisky makes it an even more unique proposition for collectors and connoisseurs.
The G&M Private Collection Linkwood 1971 Aged 50 Years will be available for general sale exclusively from thesinglemaltshop.com from 15 September 2022. However, 20 bottles are now available for pre-order, to be shipped in August 2022. Further details of this exclusive bottling and event can be found online using the QR code.
GORDON & MACPHAIL PRIVATE COLLECTION
Linkwood 1971 Single Cask
Aged 50 Years
BOTTLED EXCLUSIVELY FOR THESINGLEMALTSHOP.COM
ABV: 42.4%
Style: Single Malt
Region: Speyside
Bottling type: Independent
Availability: Exclusively online
Country of origin: Scotland
Tasting Notes by Charles MacLean:
Nose: The top notes are of oil scented with bergamot, becoming scented hand cream. Backed by tablet toffee
and Parma violet sweets, with a hint of black tea leaves in a tea caddie.
Palate: A big, soft, mouth-filling texture and a sweet, mid-palate taste, with just a hint of white pepper in the long finish and a return of the Parma violets in the aftertaste.
Finish: Very easy to drink at natural strength, but equally good when reduced – now exhibiting an intriguing sour note, with more warmth in the finish.
Comment: This is a gorgeous old whisky with all the complexity that only advanced age in a good cask. A haughty dowager duchess of a whisky, noble and impeccable, or maybe an elderly but very well-preserved French film star.
Charles’s score: 94/100
ABOUT THESINGLE MALTSHOP.COM
Owned and operated by a publicly listed fund, thesinglemaltshop.com is a new online whisky store that offers an unparalleled collection of products with a fully regulated security of purchase. Based in Dublin, Ireland, its range of whiskies is meticulously sourced from all around the world, with bottles for every type of whisky lover. Highly competitive shipping rates are offered and a seamless service delivers bottles directly to customers’ doors.
AN EXCLUSIVE READER OFFER
As a special thank you to the first 10 people who purchase a bottle, each will be invited to a unique launch event hosted by thesinglemaltshop.com and Whisky Magazine: a three-course dinner at Boisdale of Belgravia, with a tasting of the Linkwood 1971 Aged 50 Years conducted by Charlie MacLean. This event will take place on 15 September 2022 at 6:30pm at Boisdale of Belgravia, 15 Eccleston Street, London, SW1W 9LX. Full offer T&Cs on the product page via the QR code.
This incredibly precious liquid earned extremely high praise from leading whisky expert Charles MacLean and just 166 bottles are being released, with a retail price of €7,950. What’s more, the first 10 buyers of a bottle will receive a complimentary ticket to attend an exclusive, luxury launch event at Boisdale of Belgravia in London, hosted by Whisky Magazine, Charles MacLean and thesinglemaltshop.com.
Linkwood distillery is located close to the Speyside capital of Elgin and was founded by Peter Brown in 1821, although production did not begin until four years later. The Brown family retained ownership for the rest of the century, with the distillery ultimately passing into the hands of the mighty Distillers Company Limited’s Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD) subsidiary, and finally to Diageo.
In 1962, Linkwood was largely rebuilt, with SMD following its tried and tested method of replacing stills with exact replicas of their predecessors in order to preserve spirit character. Then, in 1971, an additional production area, Linkwood ‘B’, was added to the site. Ultimately, the buildings of the older Linkwood ‘A’ were demolished in 2012, and the following year two new stills were installed, taking annual capacity to 5.6 million litres.
When it comes to rare examples of ‘veteran’ Linkwood spirit, Charles MacLean declares, “Malts distilled before innovations of the 1970s, as this Linkwood 1971 was, open a sensory window on the past. They are themselves liquid history, and as such are hugely emotive. From a collector’s perspective they are so rare they are sometimes described as ‘unicorns’ – gorgeous mythical creatures. A combination of these factors makes such malts highly desirable to connoisseurs, collectors and investors.”
Gordon & MacPhail was established in Elgin during 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail. In 1915, John Urquhart joined the firm and soon established a formidable portfolio of maturing whiskies, before ultimately taking over the business. Successive generations of his family have continued to own and operate G&M up to the present day. Thanks to the Urquharts passion and foresight, G&M now boasts an unrivalled inventory of single malt casks, some dating from before the Second World War. It is no exaggeration to say that the company has played a crucial role in the renaissance of single malt Scotch whisky.
A notable feature of this 50-year-old 1971 bottling is that it was distilled on Thursday 25 November, soon after the distillery was extended with the creation of an entirely new distillery, Linkwood ‘B,’ which had four additional stills and sat alongside the existing two-still Linkwood ‘A.’ Until ‘A’ ceased regular production in 1985, the spirit from ‘A’ and ‘B’ was vatted prior to being filled to cask, meaning that this liquid is likely a product of the two sibling sites and is thus a blend of both eras of the distillery’s history.
Linkwood was (and remains today) a prized spirit for creating the most complex blends. On account of this, in the ‘70s almost the entire output of the distillery was destined for the blending vats, with only a far-sighted company like G&M laying down casks of this precious spirit in high-quality wood for future single malt releases.
Whiskies as rare and desirable as this 50-year-old G&M Private Collection 1971 Linkwood bottled exclusively for thesinglemaltshop.com don’t come along very often. Inevitably, casks of such well-aged and high-quality spirit are very few and far between, and no one is more skilled at nurturing them to great age than G&M. With just 166 bottles available, demand is sure to be high, and the opportunity for the first 10 purchasers to receive a complimentary ticket to the luxury launch event for this fabulous one-off whisky makes it an even more unique proposition for collectors and connoisseurs.
The G&M Private Collection Linkwood 1971 Aged 50 Years will be available for general sale exclusively from thesinglemaltshop.com from 15 September 2022. However, 20 bottles are now available for pre-order, to be shipped in August 2022. Further details of this exclusive bottling and event can be found online using the QR code.
Bottle of G&M 1971
GORDON & MACPHAIL PRIVATE COLLECTION
Linkwood 1971 Single Cask
Aged 50 Years
BOTTLED EXCLUSIVELY FOR THESINGLEMALTSHOP.COM
ABV: 42.4%
Style: Single Malt
Region: Speyside
Bottling type: Independent
Availability: Exclusively online
Country of origin: Scotland
Tasting Notes by Charles MacLean:
Nose: The top notes are of oil scented with bergamot, becoming scented hand cream. Backed by tablet toffee
and Parma violet sweets, with a hint of black tea leaves in a tea caddie.
Palate: A big, soft, mouth-filling texture and a sweet, mid-palate taste, with just a hint of white pepper in the long finish and a return of the Parma violets in the aftertaste.
Finish: Very easy to drink at natural strength, but equally good when reduced – now exhibiting an intriguing sour note, with more warmth in the finish.
Comment: This is a gorgeous old whisky with all the complexity that only advanced age in a good cask. A haughty dowager duchess of a whisky, noble and impeccable, or maybe an elderly but very well-preserved French film star.
Charles’s score: 94/100
ABOUT THESINGLE MALTSHOP.COM
Owned and operated by a publicly listed fund, thesinglemaltshop.com is a new online whisky store that offers an unparalleled collection of products with a fully regulated security of purchase. Based in Dublin, Ireland, its range of whiskies is meticulously sourced from all around the world, with bottles for every type of whisky lover. Highly competitive shipping rates are offered and a seamless service delivers bottles directly to customers’ doors.
AN EXCLUSIVE READER OFFER
As a special thank you to the first 10 people who purchase a bottle, each will be invited to a unique launch event hosted by thesinglemaltshop.com and Whisky Magazine: a three-course dinner at Boisdale of Belgravia, with a tasting of the Linkwood 1971 Aged 50 Years conducted by Charlie MacLean. This event will take place on 15 September 2022 at 6:30pm at Boisdale of Belgravia, 15 Eccleston Street, London, SW1W 9LX. Full offer T&Cs on the product page via the QR code.
