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Blackadder Raw Cask Linkwood 12 Year Old, Oloroso Sherry Finish
Single cask Linkwood, distilled on 2 April 2013 and matured in ex-bourbon wood before a finishing period in an Oloroso sherry barrel, Barrel No. 70. Bottled in February 2026 at 12 years old, straight from the cask at 59.1% ABV. The outturn is 261 bottles for the world.
Linkwood almost never leaves Diageo's blending inventory. The distillery's output is prized inside Johnnie Walker, and official single malt releases are limited to the occasional Flora & Fauna bottling. A single cask at full strength, with a sherry finish, is the kind of Linkwood that only an independent bottler puts on a shelf. This one arrives Raw Cask: no filtration of any kind, sediment and all.
About Blackadder
Blackadder International was founded in 1995 by Robin Tucek and remains a family operation, run with his daughter Hannah and son Michael. The house philosophy has never changed: the cask is king. Blackadder selects individual casks on their own merits, bottles at natural strength or close to it, and never chill filters or adds colour.
Raw Cask is the purest expression of that philosophy. The whisky goes from cask to bottle with no filtration at all, not even a mechanical screen. Fragments of char and cask sediment (Blackadder calls them cask throwings) travel with the spirit into the glass bottle. What you hold is, as literally as bottling allows, the inside of Barrel No. 70.
Distillery profile
- Founded 1821 by Peter Brown on the outskirts of Elgin, in the heart of Speyside. Rebuilt several times since, most recently expanded under Diageo.
- Owned by Diageo, with nearly all production reserved for blending. Linkwood is a core filling for Johnnie Walker.
- Known among blenders for a light, floral, fragrant spirit, one of the most sought-after malts in Speyside for adding lift to a blend.
- Official single malt bottlings are scarce, so independent single casks like this one carry most of Linkwood's reputation among drinkers.
Cask profile
Distilled 2 April 2013 and matured in ex-bourbon wood, this Linkwood was then transferred to an Oloroso sherry barrel (Barrel No. 70) for its finishing period. Oloroso is the dry, oxidatively aged style of sherry, and casks seasoned with it are the classic choice for layering dried fruit and nut character over a delicate spirit.
The finish is a deliberate pairing: Linkwood's fragrant, floral distillate against the weight of Oloroso wood. Blackadder bottled it before the cask could bury the distillery character.
Bottled February 2026 at 59.1% ABV, full cask strength. No chill filtration, no filtration of any kind, no added colour. 261 bottles exist.
On Tasting Notes
You will not find Blackadder's tasting notes here. By design.
Blackadder shares every technical detail a curious drinker could ask for: distillery, cask number, distillation date, bottling date, ABV, outturn. Everything that makes the liquid what it is. What they leave to you is the experience of drinking it.
Tasting notes shape expectation. They tell you what you should find before you find it. Blackadder's position is that the spirit in your glass should speak for itself, and what you find there belongs to you. Pour it neat. Add a few drops of water if it asks for it. Take your time. The cask did.
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Brand | Blackadder International |
| Series | Raw Cask |
| Style | Single Malt Scotch Whisky |
| Region | Speyside |
| Distillery | Linkwood |
| Age | 12 Years Old |
| ABV | 59.1% (cask strength) |
| Volume | 700ml |
| Cask type | Ex-bourbon, finished in an Oloroso sherry barrel (Barrel No. 70) |
| Distilled | 2 April 2013 |
| Bottled | February 2026 |
| Outturn | 261 bottles |
| Cask strength | Yes |
| Non-chill filtered | Yes (Raw Cask: no filtration of any kind) |
| Natural colour | Yes |
| Availability | Open release |
The Whiskey Lab's Quality Commitments
- Single Cask & Small Batch: Ensuring a unique profile for each release.
- Natural Colour & Non-Chill Filtered: Preserving the authentic character and purity of the whisky.
- Honest Storytelling: Every cask profile written by people who actually handled the liquid.
