Craigellachie 1990 Gordon & MacPhail bottled 2007 Connoisseurs Choice (Brown)

Craigellachie was built in 1890 by Charles Doig on behalf of Sir Peter Mackie (White Horse) and Alexander Edward, who wanted to make a more delicate and fruity whisky than those usually found at the time. Edward was also responsible for Aultmore, Dallas Dhu and Benromach. He left the business in 1900 and sold his shares to Mackie, who used Craigellachie for his blends White Horse, Old Smuggler and Old Gaelic. Craigellacie became the property of Distillers Company Limited (Diageo’‘s predecessor), who bought White Horse Distillers in 1927 and then sold the distillery to the Bacardi group in 1998, at the same time as Aberfeldy, Aultmore and Royal Brackla. For a long time remaining in the shadow of the blends it was used in for its fruity, waxy and meaty characteristics, Craigellachie was finally released as a single malt in the 1990s, with appearances in the Flora and Fauna and Rare Malt ranges. Today it has its own line of single malts, launched in 2014 as part of Dewar’‘s Last Great Malts.

Craigellachie distilled in 1990 and bottled in 2007 by independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail. Gordon & MacPhail was founded in Elgin in 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail. As was often the case at the time, the business started out as a delicatessen and wine merchant. In 1915, John Alexander MacPhail retired and a new partner joined the business, John Urquhart. He was joined by his son George in 1933, a few years after James Gordon died in a car crash. Gordon & MacPhail works with many of Speyside’s leading distilleries, from whom it has accumulated considerable stocks. It is also licensed to bottle whiskies for many of them, including Glen Grant, Linkwood, Mortlach, Macallan and Glenlivet. The business really took off in the 1970s, acquiring distributors in a huge range of countries and selling casks to several Italian bottlers in selections that would become legends in their own right. Gordon & MacPhail is still run by the Urquhart family today, from the same building, and is one of the most iconic bottlers in the industry, with incredible stocks of sometimes very old and rare whiskies. The company is in complete control of the entire maturation process. Gordon & MacPhail has also owned the Benromach distillery since 1993.