Part of the Diageo malts site - not much more than some history of the distillery and a description of the 12yo.
VisitingLinkwood is not open to visitors, but Whisky Cyclist got to visit as part of a special event during the Spirit of Speyside Festival 2015.
Vital Stats
The first distillery at Linkwood commenced in 1821, though distillation didn't start until 1824, was a small affair, but progressive rebuilds and expansions have turned it into one of Diageo's larger distilleries today. The dates of construction and production are interesting, as production in 1821 would have been illegal, but by 1824 the 1823 Excise Act had made licensed distilling legal.
The distillery was founded by Peter Brown the manager of the Linkwood Estate and remained in the Brown family until 1897. Peter Brown's son WIlliam had demolished his father's distillery in 1872 to make way for a larger one completed in 1874. After his death, the Linkwood-Glenlivet Distillery Co was formed to run the distillery. Robert Innes Cameron, a whisky broker, and according to Diageo's Lnkwood history already owner of another distillery, eventually becoming main shareholder and managing director. On his death the distillery was sold to Diageo predecessor Scottish Malt Distillers. The distillery was silent during WWII due to barley shortages, and was managed by Roderick MacKenzie after the war. he became legendary for not allowing any changes to the environment for fear of changing the character of the whisky - even to the extent of not allowing cobwebs to be removed. when the distillery is rebuilt in 1962, it is said that not only was every dent of the old stills replicated in the new stills, but that cobwebs had to be reinstated! A further new distilery, this time alongside the existing one, was built at Linkwood in 1971 (referred to as Linkwood 'B') initially intended to replace the older, smaller distillery, Linkwood 'A' but because of demand, the older one was kept in production until 1985. One big difference was that worm tubs had been used for the old distillery, while condensers were used on the new stills. Linkwood 'A' was used after this for experimentation, though this role has now been taken by DIageo's '29th distillery' - the 'secret' facility at Leven. When production was again increased in 2011, most of the Linkwood 'A' buildings were demolished to make way for the expansion - an additional two stills and a new tun room with a further 6 washbacks. This increased capacity by some 2 million litres a year. Full capacity around 5.5m litres when worked 7 days a week. Malt Madness wikipedia WhiskyMerchants.co.uk scotchwhisky.com SMWS 
Linkwood 'B' Stills, 2011
2007 - showing the old look Linkwood
Additional stills in 2015
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Getting ThereClick the Google logo on the above map to access Street View, Directions etc.
Open Cycle Map Bing Map Glenlossie Benriach Longmorn Iinchgower Distilleries Speyside Distilleries Lossie Nearest station is Elgin (ELG) (1 mile) Live Train Times. Linkwood Distillery is on the eastern edge of Elgin on Linkwood Road.
CyclingNearest Bike shops - Elgin:
Bikes and Bowls 7 High Street, Elgin 01343 549656 Halfords Lossie Wynd N, Elgin 01343 552030 
Burn of Linkwood alongside the Distillery 2011
Another shot from 2007, showing the now demolished Linkwood 'A' building
The old kiln in 2015
Modern Distillery Control
Close up on the Piper
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Photos on this page were taken by me. Click on photo to enlarge. Full size versions of all my photos of Linkwood Distillery are available on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martynjenkins/sets/72157627401462483/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martynjenkins/sets/72157627401462483/
