Linlithgow

SCOTCH SINGLE MALT WHISKIES > L

LINLITHGOW

9 years old

62.6%

CADENHEAD'S
AUTHENTIC COLLECTION
150th anniversary bottling
Distilled December 1982
Bottled March 1992
No Additives
No Chill Filtration
No Colouring
Wm. Cadenhead, 32 Unionstreet, Campbeltown

Bleek van kleur. Tintelende neus. Grassig, rokerig. Licht van body. Heftig van smaak. Droog en bloemig. Verwarmende afdronk.

LINLITHGOW

22 years old

51.7%
SILENT STILLS
Distilled 2.6.75
Bottled 28.5.98
Cask No. 96/3/01
335 bottles
Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

LINLITHGOW

24 years old

51,3%
VINTAGE 1975
Distilled 2.6.75
Bottled 15.7.99
Cask No. 961/3/2
336 bottles
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

LINLITHGOW

26 years old

59,3%

RAW CASK 59.3%
Distilled 2nd June 1975
Bottled in April 2002
CASK STRENGHT
Oak Hogshead no. 30012
328 bottles
No added colour
No chill filtration
Blackadder International

Blackadder Raw Cask is carefully bottled as it is drawn from cask retaining all its natu¬ral Cask Sediments as well as all its natural Oils and Fats, thus ensuring the maximum possible Natural Flavour in every bottle

LINLITHGOW

18 years old

43 %
VINTAGE 1982
Distilled 15.12.82
Bottled 14.8.2001
Cask No. 3002
472 Genummerde flessen
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Ltd, Edinburgh

LINLITHGOW

28 years old

48,1 %
SIGNATORY VINTAGE
VINTAGE 1975
Distilled on 2.6.75
Bottled 12.1.04
Cask No. 96/3/37
308 Genummerde flessen
Natural Colour
Signatory Vintage
Scotch Whisky Co, Lrd, Edinburgh

LINLITHGOW

30 years old

59,6 %

SPECIAL RELEASE 2004
Fine Cask Strenght
Single Malt Whiskies
Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distilled: 1973
Bottled: 2004
1500 specially produced
hand etched Decanters
With picture painted by
J.M.W. Turner in 1833
Scottish Malt Distillers, Elgin

A regal Lowland malt, this complex natural cask strenght Linlithgow makes an astounding aperitif. Fruity nose. Light body. Fresh fruit, engaging medicinal development. Dries to a ghost of a finish.

The Distillery lives on through its malt, among the Lowland's very finest. This very rare old and collectable natural cask strenght example is among the last to be offered. Fruity, expressive and light bodied, drying to a ghostly, short finish, it is surely the best of its kind, a complex whisky with the classic Lowland profile that makes Linlithgow a regal aperitif.

LINLITHGOW also see ST. MAGDALENE
Linlithgow, West Lothian. Licentiehouder: John Hopkins & Co, Ltd.

St. Magdalene maakt deel uit van Scottish Malt Distillers Ltd. (S.M.D.)
De malt divisie van United Distillers Ltd. Eigendom van Guinness.
St. Magdalene was ook wel bekend onder de naam Linlithgow. Deze naam wordt wel gebruikt door onafhankelijke bottelaars.

This noble early distillery was founded in the late 18th century on the lands of St. Magdalene's Cross at Linlithgow, birthplace in 1542 of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, France and very nearly, of England too. It was a majestic setting;
'Of all palaces so fair Built for the royal dwelling In Scotland, far beyond compare Linlithgow is exelling' 'Marmion'.
While the distillery developed, the magnificent remains of the former Royal Palace suvived as an inspiration to painters and poets. 'Master of light' J.M.W. Turner came in 1833, to paint the picture you see here. The chronicler, Alfred Barnard, visited the distillery fifty years later. He found the town 'a dull, sleepy place' though 'rich in splendid ruins... which more than compensate....'.
Linlithgow continued to produce fine Lowland malts into the 1980s, before itself falling into disuse. The ruined royal palace has now outlasted its more recent companion, just as the memory of its tragic Queen lives on in Scotland before that of her heirs.

October 2005
Diageo has announced that its 2005 Annual Rare Malts Selection will be the last.
The collection will consist of four cask strenght single malts from closed distilleries; Glen Mhor 28 years old, Millburn 35 years old, Glendullan 26 years old and Linkwood 30 years old.
Dr. Nicholas Morgan, global malts marketing director commented: 'As the Special Releases are now well established, it makes less sence to continue selecting and promoting a parallel series of Rare Malts with his own separate indentity'.
In future, all premium and rare whiskies will be made available in the annual Special Re-leases series.

St Magdalene, or Linlithgow as it was also known, was a sizeable distillery occupying a prime position between the Union Canal and railway line. The distillery benefitted not only from its own rail sidings but its own wharf as well, where coal and coke were landed to fire St Magdalene’s stills. Water from the Union Canal was used for cooling, though process water was drawn from an artesian well on-site.

When it was eventually acquired by DCL St Magdalene was a relatively large distillery, with 14 washbacks, five stills (two wash; three low wines), three worm tubs, 19 warehouses and the capacity to produce over 1 million litres of alcohol per year. At the time of whisky writer Alfred Barnard’s visit in the later 19th century, he noted some ‘very old’ whisky stored in the warehouses, distilled in 1875 and 1877, and some older. He would have been surprised by the age of some stocks available today, albeit in limited quantities.

Although most of the distillery’s whisky was destined for blending, it has been bottled by independents under both the St Magdalene and Linlithgow brands. Diageo released two official bottlings as part of its Rare Malts series in the 1990s – a 23-year-old 1970 vintage, and a 19-year-old 1979 vintage. A 30-year-old bottling named Linlithgow was also released in 2004 as part of Diageo’s Special Releases for that year.

At one time the royal burgh of Linlithgow was home to five distilleries, and though it was St Magdalene that outlasted them all, its whisky-producing days are gone.

St Magdalene was built in the mid-18th century by Sebastian Henderson, to oppose the construction of Bulzion distillery that appeared a few years earlier. Henderson had rented the lands of St. Magdalene’s Cross convent from the Countess of Dalhousie to build the distillery.

In 1798 the distiller and provost Adam Dawson, who already operated the adjacent Bonnytoun distillery, bought St Magdalene and transferred his operation across. Dawson’s business soon grew so that St. Magdalene absorbed the original Bonnytoun site, stretching out across 10 acres of land.

St Magdalene remained in family ownership until the early 20th century under A&J Dawson, which was incorporated as a limited company in 1895.

By 1912, facing intense competition and a decline in the market, A&J Dawson went into liquidation. The business was purchased from the liquidators by Distillers Company Ltd (DCL) and licensed to William Greer & Co.

Two years later it became one of the original five distilleries comprising Scottish Malt Distillers, along with Rosebank, Glenkinchie, Clydesdale and Grange distilleries.

DCL continued the operation of St Magdalene throughout the 20th century, though the distillery became one of nine permanently closed by the company in 1983.

The distillery was renovated into residential flats in the early 1990s, though its malting barn and kiln, which are registered as C Grade listed buildings, remain. St Magdalene’s pagoda roof is the last reminder of the burgh’s distilling heritage.

Diageo

1997 - present

United Distillers

1986 - 1997

Distillers Company Limited

1912 - 1986

A&J Dawson

1829 - 1912

Adam Dawson

1798 - 1829

Sebastian Henderson

c1753 - 1798