Linlithgow 1982-2007 - 25 Year Old - Murray McDavid - Mission Gold

St. Magdalene distillery (sometimes known as Linlithgow) is one of the greatest and most sorely missed of the lost Lowland distilleries. The distillery’s 1983 closure attracted little outcry but a handful of extraordinary Rare Malts bottlings in the late 1990s brought home the scale of the loss. Thankfully, a great many casks of St. Magdalene/Linlithgow have appeared from independent bottlers, with high strength versions by Cadenhead’s, SMWS, Douglas Laing and Gordon & MacPhail all performing well at auction.

St. Magdalene’s spirit, although sometimes showing a typical Lowland grassiness, was also frequently considerably more robust and austere than one would expect, with the pre-1975 vintages in particular displaying a minerally, oily waxiness more akin to the old Highland style malts than the soft Lowland archetype, while post-1975 vintages sometimes tend more towards elegance and fruitiness. A marvellous distillery that malt fans must try while bottlings still exist.

Independent whisky bottler Murray McDavid was founded by La Réserve wine merchants Simon Coughlin and Mark Reynier with Gordon Wright from Springbank in 1994. Murray McDavid quickly established themselves in the new wave of indie bottlers, with a string of great whiskies bottled without colouring or chill filtration at a minimum strength of 46%.

After a failed bid for Ardbeg in 1997, Murray McDavid bought Bruichladdich distillery in 2000 and swiftly transformed the rundown distillery’s fortunes, employing Jim McEwan as manager and embracing the wine finishing trend with gusto. In 2012 Murray McDavid & Bruichladdich were bought by Rémy Cointreau, who sold Murray McDavid to Aceo Ltd, another whisky broker and bottling company, the following year.