An unsung hero in the world of single malts, Linkwood Distillery was established by Peter Brown in 1821, but wouldn’t see production for another four years. Located on the outskirts of Elgin in the Speyside region, the distillery remained in the Brown family until the end of the nineteenth century. The distillery changed hands on only one other occasion, in 1933, when it was sold to Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (SMD), now a subsidiary of Diageo.

During the years Roderick MacKenzie worked as Distillery Manager (1945-1963), Linkwood Distillery saw very little change – from the in-house floor maltings to the cobwebs in the warehouses. Although MacKenzie oversaw the rebuilding of the distillery in 1962, SMD saw the building of a second four still Linkwood Distillery in 1971. The adjacent sites were renamed Linkwood A (the older distillery) and Linkwood B. The older Linkwood A site ceased regular production in 1985. Aside from some experimental distillation runs in the 1990s, the stills remained silent until the old buildings were demolished in 2012.

Gordon & MacPhail and the Linkwood Distillery have been close for more than a century, and not only in proximity (two miles as the crow flies). Linkwood has been a a part of the Gordon & MacPhail stable for generations.