Murray McDavid Cask Craft Linkwood Madeira Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Part of Murray McDavids incredible value Cask Craft series, this release features a Linkwood aged in Madeira casks. Linkwood is always an instant win for us. Sometimes it is grassy and estery, sometimes it is oily, citrus and cereal driven. We think it leans more towards the latter for this one, which pairs very well with the dry, aromatic spice notes of the Madeira cask.

Official Tasting Notes:

Character: light, citrus, sweet malt, hint of nuttiness

Influence: rich, dried fruits, mellow oak spice

Linkwood is a favourite distillery of The Oak Barrel. Founded in 1821 in the town of Elgin in the region of Speyside, the distillery is currently one of Diageo's workhorse sites - that is it produces whisky mainly for their blends. Long fermentation and gentle distillation gives the whisky from here an aromatic and grassy aroma, but a textural and oily palate. A whisky that can show lots of floral notes while young, but one that develops great complexity with age. As such, this is used in blends not as 'bulk filler' at the heart, but top-dressing icing to give the overall blend complexity and elegance. Rarely seen as a single malt officially, it is often excellent in the hands of independent bottlers.      

Murray McDavid was founded in 1994 by former wine merchant and legend of the whisky industry, Mark Reynier, who named company after his grandparents Harriet Murray and Jock McDavid. Mark was subsequently joined by yet another whisky legend, Jim McEwan: you might recognise these names as part of the team that resuscitated the Bruichladdich distillery in 2000 and subsequently made it the powerhouse that it is today.

Mark's former life as a wine merchant gave him access to some incredible and unique casks and Murray McDavid quickly established a reputation for innovative and extraordinary cask maturations. Though Mark and Jim both have sinced moved on to other ventures, their ethos lives on through the brand's slogan, celebrating "The Art of Maturation". This commitment is made evident in the calibre of casks that they source globally; including bourbon and rye caks from Koval in Chicago, Sherry casks from Bodegas Ximenez-Spinola in Jerez and Port barriques from Caves de Murca in Portugal.