The Perfect Collection Part One

Scapa 1986 Gordon and MacPhail

Scapa distillery was the third to be constructed on Orkney, preceded by Highland Park and Stromness, although out-lasting the latter. It was built in 1885, and its early history was blighted with fires and closures. It was bought by Canadian giants, Hiram Walker, in 1954. As with several of their other distilleries, they experimented with the use of Lomond stills, installing Scapa's in 1959. Although itwas decommissioned 20 years later, the still itself continues to be used, now without the rectifying plates. It is the only one of this type still producing Scotch whisky. Its single malt has been bottled since the 1970s, first under license by Gordon & MacPhail, with a 10 year old distillery bottling then launched in the 1980s. Scapa has since passed through the hands of Allied Distillers and is now part of the Pernod-Ricard portfolio. 

As Scapa was one of the distilleries that licensed its brand to Gordon & MacPhail to produce official releases in the 1970s and 1980s, this good standing with the distillery has furnished the Elgin-based independent firm with a steady supply of high quality casks, and subsequently, high quality releases.

This is a 1986 vintage, bottled in 1997.

St Magdalene-Linlithgow 1975 Signatory Vintage 22 Year Old Miniature / Silent Stills

St Magdalene, also known as Linlithgow (after its home town) was a large distillery who's output was almost entirely for the purposes of blending. It was built in the 18th century, but was acquired by DCL (now Diageo) in 1912, who operated it until its closure in 1983. Like many others, it was deemed surplus to requirements as the blended Scotch market hit a downturn, leaving DCL over-supplied. As a result of this, its single malt is particularly rare. It was only officially bottled three times by Diageo, but a number of increasingly sought after releases have been bottled by independent companies over the years. The collectability of which is likely only to increase, as unlike other members of the 1983 club, St Magdalene was demolished and is not in line for a resurrection. 

Distilled on 2nd June 1975, this was bottled within Signatory Vintage's Silent Stills range, which at the time showcased Scotland's finest discontinued single malts (some, such as Glenglassaugh, have since returned).

Cask #96/3/01 produced 335 full size and miniature bottles.

Signatory Vintage were established in 1988 by Andrew Symington and are one of Scotland's most prolific independent bottlers. Their offices and bottling facility are located next to Edradour distillery, which they have also owned since 2002.

Scotts 12 Year Old Vatted Malt 1980s

An old 12 year old vatted malt, produced in the 1980s before the use of the term (meaning blended malt) was outlawed.

This was produced for Scotts Restaurant in Mayfair, London.

Scapa 1990 Signatory Vintage 9 Year Old 75cl / US Import

Scapa distillery was the third to be constructed on Orkney, preceded by Highland Park and Stromness, although out-lasting the latter. It was built in 1885, and its early history was blighted with fires and closures. It was bought by Canadian giants, Hiram Walker, in 1954. As with several of their other distilleries, they experimented with the use of Lomond stills, installing Scapa's in 1959. Although itwas decommissioned 20 years later, the still itself continues to be used, now without the rectifying plates. It is the only one of this type still producing Scotch whisky. Its single malt has been bottled since the 1970s, first under license by Gordon & MacPhail, with a 10 year old distillery bottling then launched in the 1980s. Scapa has since passed through the hands of Allied Distillers and is now part of the Pernod-Ricard portfolio. 

This 1990 vintage is an independent release from Signatory Vintage. It was bottled for the US market in 2000.

Signatory Vintage were established in 1988 by Andrew Symington and are one of Scotland's most prolific independent bottlers. Their offices and bottling facility are located next to Edradour distillery, which they have also owned since 2002.

Strathisla 1982 Gordon and MacPhail

Speyside's oldest operating distillery, Strathisla was founded in 1786 as Milltown, and later renamed Milton in 1890. The distillery was an early advocate of its single malt, which it sold under the brand name, Strathisla, after the river that runs past the site. Strathisla single malt was bottled as early as the late 19th century, and proved very popular. None-the-less, by the 1940s it was struggling, needing rescued by Canadian giants, Seagram, who bought it in 1950, renaming it Strathisla the following year, and tasking it as a key contributor to its Chivas blends. Despite this, the single malt brand remained a core part of the business, and remains so to this day.

As Strathisla was one of the distilleries that licensed its brand to Gordon & MacPhail to produce official releases in the 1970s and 1980s, this good standing with the distillery has furnished the Elgin-based independent firm with a steady supply of high quality casks, and subsequently, high quality releases.  

This is a 1982 vintage, bottled in 1996. The continued use of these classic liveries by Gordon & MacPhail is now called their Distillery Labels series.

Scapa 12 Year Old 75cl / US Import

Scapa distillery was the third to be constructed on Orkney, preceded by Highland Park and Stromness, although out-lasting the latter. It was built in 1885, and its early history was blighted with fires and closures. It was bought by Canadian giants, Hiram Walker, in 1954. As with several of their other distilleries, they experimented with the use of Lomond stills, installing Scapa's in 1959. Although itwas decommissioned 20 years later, the still itself continues to be used, now without the rectifying plates. It is the only one of this type still producing Scotch whisky. Its single malt has been bottled since the 1970s, first under license by Gordon & MacPhail, with a 10 year old distillery bottling then launched in the 1980s. Scapa has since passed through the hands of Allied Distillers and is now part of the Pernod-Ricard portfolio. 

This 12 year old was the core range expression during the Allied Distillers era, and replaced the Tormore expression in the company's Caledonian Malts range after poor sales. It was eventually replaced by the 14 year old in 2004. 

Scapa 1989 Signatory Vintage 9 Year Old 75cl / US Import

Scapa distillery was the third to be constructed on Orkney, preceded by Highland Park and Stromness, although out-lasting the latter. It was built in 1885, and its early history was blighted with fires and closures. It was bought by Canadian giants, Hiram Walker, in 1954. As with several of their other distilleries, they experimented with the use of Lomond stills, installing Scapa's in 1959. Although it was decommissioned 20 years later, the still itself continues to be used, now without the rectifying plates. It is the only one of this type still producing Scotch whisky. Its single malt has been bottled since the 1970s, first under license by Gordon & MacPhail, with a 10 year old distillery bottling then launched in the 1980s. Scapa has since passed through the hands of Allied Distillers and is now part of the Pernod-Ricard portfolio.

This 1989 vintage is an independent release from Signatory Vintage. It was bottled for the US market in 1999.

Signatory Vintage were established in 1988 by Andrew Symington and are one of Scotland's most prolific independent bottlers. Their offices and bottling facility are located next to Edradour distillery, which they have also owned since 2002.

Singleton of Auchroisk 1980 Particular 75cl

Auchroisk distillery was built by Justerini & Brooks in 1972 to provide malt for their blends. Despite this, there was an immediate focus on its single malt as well, and it was first bottled in 1986. These were vintage-dated releases, and some of the earliest to use cask finishing. This was never advertised though, and the distillery left Balvenie to take the credit for the innovation.

These bottlings were actually the first to be labelled under \"The Singleton of\" banner, however they were eventually discontinued in 2001, with Diageo re-introducing Auchroisk as part of the Flora & Fauna series instead. The company would later revive The Singleton brand in 2006, but Auchroisk was overlooked, giving way to the trio of Glendullan, Glen Ord and Dufftown instead.

This is a 1980 vintage from the premium Particular range, which were bottled from a select number of older casks than the regular release.

This is a vatting of 150 casks, numbered #0015-0165.

Speyside Single Malt 21 Year Old Dram Select Batch #2 75cl / US Import

A mystery Speyside single malt, aged 21 years and bottled for MHW Ltd in the US, by Broxburn Bottlers.

This is their second batch in the Dram Select series.

Strathisla 12 Year Old 75cl / US Import

Speyside's oldest operating distillery, Strathisla was founded in 1786 as Milltown, and later renamed Milton in 1890. The distillery was an early advocate of its single malt, which it sold under the brand name, Strathisla, after the river that runs past the site. Strathisla single malt was bottled as early as the late 19th century, and proved very popular. None-the-less, by the 1940s it was struggling, needing rescued by Canadian giants, Seagram, who bought it in 1950, renaming it Strathisla the following year, and tasking it as a key contributor to its Chivas blends. Despite this, the single malt brand remained a core part of the business, and remains so to this day.  

This is the 12 year old core-range expression, relaunched by Pernod-Ricard when they bought the distillery in 2001.

St Magdalene-Linlithgow 1975 Signatory Vintage 22 Year Old Miniature / Silent Stills

St Magdalene, also known as Linlithgow (after its home town) was a large distillery who's output was almost entirely for the purposes of blending. It was built in the 18th century, but was acquired by DCL (now Diageo) in 1912, who operated it until its closure in 1983. Like many others, it was deemed surplus to requirements as the blended Scotch market hit a downturn, leaving DCL over-supplied. As a result of this, its single malt is particularly rare. It was only officially bottled three times by Diageo, but a number of increasingly sought after releases have been bottled by independent companies over the years. The collectability of which is likely only to increase, as unlike other members of the 1983 club, St Magdalene was demolished and is not in line for a resurrection. 

Distilled on 2nd June 1975, this was bottled within Signatory Vintage's Silent Stills range, which at the time showcased Scotland's finest discontinued single malts (some, such as Glenglassaugh, have since returned).

Cask #96/3/01 produced 335 full size and miniature bottles.

Signatory Vintage were established in 1988 by Andrew Symington and are one of Scotland's most prolific independent bottlers. Their offices and bottling facility are located next to Edradour distillery, which they have also owned since 2002.

Singleton of Auchroisk 1983 75cl / US Import

Auchroisk distillery was built by Justerini & Brooks in 1972 to provide malt for their blends. Despite this, there was an immediate focus on its single malt as well, and it was first bottled in 1986. These were vintage-dated releases, and some of the earliest to use cask finishing. This was never advertised though, and the distillery left Balvenie to take the credit for the innovation.

These bottlings were actually the first to be labelled under \"The Singleton of\" banner, however they were eventually discontinued in 2001, with Diageo re-introducing Auchroisk as part of the Flora & Fauna series instead. The company would later revive The Singleton brand in 2006, but Auchroisk was overlooked, giving way to the trio of Glendullan, Glen Ord and Dufftown instead.

These early Singleton of Auchroisk releases were matured for 8 years in bourbon wood before being finished for a further two in sherry.

Strathisla 12 Year Old 75cl / US Import

Speyside's oldest operating distillery, Strathisla was founded in 1786 as Milltown, and later renamed Milton in 1890. The distillery was an early advocate of its single malt, which it sold under the brand name, Strathisla, after the river that runs past the site. Strathisla single malt was bottled as early as the late 19th century, and proved very popular. None-the-less, by the 1940s it was struggling, needing rescued by Canadian giants, Seagram, who bought it in 1950, renaming it Strathisla the following year, and tasking it as a key contributor to its Chivas blends. Despite this, the single malt brand remained a core part of the business, and remains so to this day.  

This is the 12 year old core-range expression, relaunched by Pernod-Ricard when they bought the distillery in 2001.

Scottish Parliament 12 Year Old Single Malt

This single malt whisky was released to celebrate the vote on the 11th September 1997 when the people of Scotland voted for the reconstitution of the first Scottish Parliament since 1707.

A limited edition of only 5000 bottles.

Strathconon 12 Year Old Malt Whisky 1970s

Strathconon is a blended malt first produced by DCL in the 1970s through James Buchanan & Co. James Buchanan founded the blending company in 1884, merging it was John Dewar & Sons in 1915. It became part of the DCL family when they acquired Buchanan-Dewar ten years later. The Strathconon brand was aimed at the emerging single malt market in Italy, giving prominence to phrase on its label. It is believe the composition included Mortlach, Glenlossie, Aultmore and Glentauchers.

This is an early example of the product. DCL later packaged Strathconon in its Ascot Malt Cellar in 1982, a range generally believed to be a precursor to the Classic Malts six years later, but considered as a somewhat half-hearted attempt to compete on the single malt stage with Macallan and Glenfiddich. So half-hearted in fact, that out of the six releases, two were still blends, this and the Glenleven brand from Haig's.

Speyside 1990 Millennium Miniature 

Speyside distillery was the second of those built by George Christie, his first being the North of Scotland grain plant in 1957. His malt distillery was not completed until 30 years later however, and only began production in 1990. In its short history it has appeared in several guises, including Drumguish, Spey, Cu Dhub, Glentromie and Black Burn. 

This is a 1990 vintage miniature of the single malt bottled for the distillery's Millennium decanter.

Drawn from sherry cask #1.

Speyburn 10 Year Old 75cl / US Import

Speyburn distillery was built by John Hopkin & Co at the end of the 19th century, eventually passing into the hands of DCL (now Diageo) in 1916. With the exception of a 4 year silence in the 1930s, they operated the distillery until 1991 when it was sold to current owners, Inver House. Aside from the short-lived and rare Flora & Fauna release, there are no distillery bottlings of its single malt from the United Distillers era or earlier, and it was not until Inver House acquired it that its single malt brand was launched. Predominantly sold in the US, it is still something of a rarity (despite its sales volume).   

This 10 year old was the sole permanent release for a long time, before the distillery's core range portfolio was expanded in the 2000s.

Speyside Dew Single Malt 75cl / US Import

A Speyside region single malt from an undisclosed distillery. This was bottled by Ewen & Company for their Highland Dew brand, part of their wider Dew Collection.