Linkwood Mystery Malt 1991-2008 - 17 Year Old - Bladnoch Forum - Single Cask 10347

Linkwood is a large Speyside distillery making top class single malt whisky for owner Diageo’s portfolio of blends. Such is Linkwood’s importance to the blending industry that very little of its production is officially released, with only the mediocre Flora & Fauna edition and one horribly overpriced Special Release appearing in the last decade or so.

Much more rewarding are the terrific Rare Malts editions of Linkwood bottled from 1995-2005, all from 1970s vintages that showcase the distillery’s fantastically pure spirit style to great effect. There have also been numerous outstanding long-aged Linkwoods by Gordon & MacPhail, who were licensed bottlers of Linkwood for many years and have bottled the oldest Linkwoods yet released, the Private Collection editions from 1953 and 1956, both of which were over 60 years old.

The Bladnoch Forum was an online discussion group set up in 2001 by former distillery owner Raymond Armstrong for friends and fans of the Bladnoch distillery. Under the terms of his agreement with Diageo to recommence distillation Armstrong was allowed to produce only 100,000 litres of Bladnoch spirit per annum; with the Forum gaining traction among whisky fans, in 2005 Armstrong decided to start bottling and selling whiskies to his loyal members.

Over 100 single cask whiskies were released by Bladnoch Forum between 2005-2012, many of which were of outstanding quality. In the early 2000s Armstrong was quoted as saying that no whisky was worth more than £50, and the Bladnoch Forum bottlings were exceptional value for drinkers. The superb long-aged Invergordon grains and the fantastic 1980s vintages of Caol Ila and Port Ellen are still highly sought after at auction.