Review #877 - ImpEx Collection Linkwood 17 Year Single Cask

In June 2026, we attended a whisky tasting centered around the ImpEx Collection, a series of releases from small independent bottler ImpEx Beverages. This company is the importer for a number of spirits brands in the United States, including well-known single malt brands such as Ardnamurchan, GlenAllachie, Kilchoman, and many more.

This tasting covered the 5th edition of the ImpEx Collection, which is being released in 2026. While there are a couple of world whiskies and a rum included, this outturn mainly focuses on Scotch whiskies - that's what we looked at in our session. All of these releases bear markers of high quality: all non-chill filtered, there's no added color, everything is transparent about age and cask type, and everything is bottled at cask strength. There were six samples in this tasting - this review is one of those six.

Like the Burnside that we just looked at as a part of this series, this Linkwood also employs a cask from one of the premier vineyards in France - this time, it's Chateau Margaux, in the Bordeaux region. This Linkwood single malt was aged for a total of 17 years, including an undisclosed amount of time in that red wine barrique; in the end, 257 bottles were yielded at a cask strength of 58% ABV.

ImpEx Collection Linkwood 17 Year Single Cask

Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt

Price: USD 199 (2026)

Age Statement: 17 Years

Strength: 58% ABV

Cask Makeup: Chateau Margaux Bordeaux red wine barrique

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; cask #14547; distilled March 31, 2008; bottled September 15, 2025; 257 bottles

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; tasted in a nosing glass, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Really smells lovely - perfumed, quite mature, nice sweetness. Vanilla from the oak combines with heather from the spirit character, and then we get fruits from the wine cask: blood orange, grapes, a little hint of bright, creamy guava.

Palate: Super fruity - just a total fruit salad. Pineapples, plums, oranges, and strawberries... it's both sweet and tart. Cherries and more berry fruit arrive, and this is quite vibrant. In the background, a subtle malty side lingers.

Finish: Watermelon, perfumed yet dry oak, some passionfruit - a bit tropical, sweet and spicy. Vanilla, honey, and more malty notes linger in the aftertaste, and warmth lingers due to that high strength.

Final Note: This is a very beautiful example of Linkwood. It shows its age very well with those sweet perfumed oak notes, but it's also full of vibrant fruit and sweetness - some orchard notes, some tropical notes, lots of complexity. Even with the strong oak and cask influence, the malty backbone still shows in the palate and finish - great balance.

Value is just under average due to the high price of about $200; that said, this is a lovely bottle, and could be a solid purchase for Linkwood fans.

Our Rating: 8.5 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 5.82

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.