Gordon & MacPhail, a venerable independent bottler with a history spanning over 125 years, has earned a reputation for its exceptional selection and maturation of single malt scotch whiskies. From its humble beginnings as a Speyside grocer to its current status as a global whisky powerhouse, the company’s legacy is intertwined with the evolution of the single malt market itself. Its reach and popularity is demonstrated by the vast collection available on The Whiskey Wash Shop.
This article explores Gordon & MacPhail’s remarkable journey, tracing its growth from a local shop to a purveyor of some of the world’s oldest and rarest whiskies. We’ll delve into the Urquhart family’s four generations of leadership, their pioneering role in the single malt revolution, and the landmark bottlings that have cemented their place in whisky history. Additionally, we’ll examine the opening of The Cairn Distillery and a dedicated gin distillery.
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Early Years – From Speyside Grocers to Whisky Brokers
Established by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail as a grocers combined with wine and spirit merchants, the Gordon & MacPhail company first opened on the 24th May 1895. Located at premises in South Street, Elgin, Gordon & MacPhail traded in tea, coffee, wine, and whisky as the founders decreed the company’s products would be ‘a superior article at a popular price’.
In 1896, John Urquhart joined Gordon & MacPhail as an apprentice, quickly establishing himself as a valuable associate to James Gordon in selecting whiskies from local Speyside distilleries for creating the company’s house blends.
In 1915, John Urquhart became a senior partner at Gordon & MacPhail and began to develop Gordon & MacPhail’s whisky brokering business by bottling single malts under license for several distilleries including Glenlivet and expanding the company’s house blends range by using malts acquired from across Speyside.
In 1933, John’s son George Urquhart also joined the company. John Urquhart started to purchase newly distilled malt specifying the cask maturation, including on the 3rd February 1940, requesting 15 first-fill sherry casks to be filled at Glenlivet, and laid to rest in the distillery’s warehouse number 6.
During the Second World War, Gordon & MacPhail released large quantities of the company’s mature whisky stocks, shipping them to the USA for sale and contributing the funds towards the British war effort. Barley rationing in the war years resulted in the temporary closure of many of Scotland’s distilleries, although Gordon & MacPhail continued to purchase casks from distilleries which remained operational, replenishing stocks and ensuring the company quickly resumed normal business in 1945.
In 1968, at a time when blended whisky dominated the market, George Urquhart created Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseurs Choice range of single malts from distilleries across Scotland, setting a trend for single malt whiskies across the world.
Gordon & MacPhail: Independent Bottlers and Distillers
As the fledgling single malt market emerged following the 1980s ‘Whisky Loch’ downturn, Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseurs Choice pioneered the new category in the whisky market creating a range of rare and sought-after single malts, selected and bottled from some of Scotland’s long-established distilleries. By 1991, Gordon & MacPhail’s success and continuing growth led the company’s management and administration to relocate from offices above the South Street shop, to purpose-built offices and duty-paid warehouses – named George House – at Boroughbriggs Road, Elgin.
In 1993, the Urquhart family’s longstanding ambition to own a distillery was realized when Gordon & MacPhail purchased the silent Benromach Distillery in Forres from United Distillers. After five years of refurbishment and modernisation the Benromach Distillery was officially reopened by HRH Prince Charles in 1998.
Gordon & MacPhail celebrated the company’s centenary anniversary in 1995. Over 100 years Gordon & MacPhail had grown and diversified from a grocers and spirit merchants to an independent bottler of single malts, and becoming scotch whisky specialists and cask maturation experts supplying the international whisky market.
Gordon & MacPhail: An Evolving Range and Landmark Bottlings
On 11th March 2010, the independent bottler made history by launching Generations Mortlach 70 Years Old, at the time of release the world’s oldest bottled single malt scotch whisky. Unveiled at an exclusive event at Edinburgh Castle, Gordon & MacPhail’s Generations bottling sparked interest across the international whisky market, with all the decanters either sold or reserved within two weeks by whisky enthusiasts or collectors worldwide.
Gordon & MacPhail released the second bottling in the Generations series on 8th March 2011, a Glenlivet 1940 70 Years Old, bottled from the casks originally ordered by John Urquhart. The Gordon & MacPhail Generations Glenlivet 1940 70 Years Old (Release 2) followed on 20th September 2012, an exclusive release bottled from cask 339. Although challenged by a series of well-aged malt releases from Macallan, on 2nd September 2015 Gordon & MacPhail launched the Generations Mortlach 75 Years Old, believed to be the world’s oldest single malt Scotch at the time of release.
In 2018, the Gordon & MacPhail company’s portfolio of bottlings was revised into five distinctive ranges, Connoisseurs Choice, Discovery, Distillery Labels, Private Collection, and Generations. Celebrating the company’s 125th anniversary in 2020, Gordon & MacPhail marked the occasion by releasing four rarely seen whiskies, bottled either from a closed distillery or distilled in Lomond Stills no longer used for production. The whiskies released were a Coleburn 1972, Glenury Royal 1984, Mosstowie 1979, and a Glencraig 1975.
In 2021, Gordon & MacPhail released Generations 2021, a Glenlivet 1940 80 Years Old, crowned the world’s oldest bottled single malt scotch whisky. Bottled on 5th February 2020, from one of John Urquhart’s casks laid down on 3rd February 1940, Generations 2021 Glenlivet 1940 80 Years Old produced a bottling of 250 decanters. Gordon & MacPhail approached internationally acclaimed designer and architect Sir David Adjaye OBE, to devise the concept and presentation for Generations 2021.
Sir David Adjaye’s theme ‘Artistry in Oak’ saw Generations 2021 decanter and glassware produced by Glencairn Crystal Studio, whilst the pavilion oak case was produced from fully sustainable materials by Dorset-based family firm, Wardour Workshops.
In support of the charity Trees for Life, whose mission is to rewild and populate the Caledonian Forest, Gordon & MacPhail auctioned Generations 2021 Glenlivet 1940 80 Years Old Decanter No. 1 at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on 2nd October 2021. The auction lot included the decanter, a whisky experience for four in London (to be hosted by Gordon & MacPhail’s Stephen Rankin, and attended by Sir David Adjaye), the original cask head from cask 340, and a signed lithograph of the Generations 2021 original decanter concept drawings.
Open only to bidders based in Hong Kong, the Generations 2021 Decanter No. 1 sold for £140,000 (1,500,000 HKD). At present, Gordon & MacPhail’s Generations 2021 Glenlivet 1940 80 Years Old is retailing on the secondary market for £100,000.
Gordon & MacPhail: Looking to the Future
In 2018, Gordon & MacPhail revealed the company’s plans to become part of Scotland’s whisky history and distilling legacy, announcing plans to build a new malt whisky distillery at Craggan, close to Grantown-on-Spey at the edge of the Cairngorms National Park.
In the same year, Gordon & MacPhail unveiled a gin distillery, Red Door, at Benromach. This small-batch, handcrafted London Dry gin is distilled in a copper pot still named ‘Peggy’ and incorporates botanicals inspired by Scotland’s landscapes, such as sea buckthorn, pearls of heather, and rowanberries.
Since 2022, the company has embarked on a transformative journey, underscoring its commitment to whisky craftsmanship and strategic evolution. A pivotal development was the inauguration of the aforementioned Cairn Distillery in October 2022, situated near Grantown-on-Spey. This state-of-the-art facility, overlooking the River Spey towards the Cairngorm Mountains, began producing its first spirit in July 2022, marking a significant expansion of the company’s distilling operations.
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In a strategic shift, Gordon & MacPhail announced in July 2023 that it would cease filling casks with spirit from third-party distilleries starting in 2024. This decision reflects the company’s intent to focus on single malt production from its own distilleries, Benromach and The Cairn, thereby concluding its longstanding role as an independent bottler.
Whilst this news was met with shock and sadness by some, Gordon & MacPhail’s flawless track record as an independent bottler certainly inspires confidence in the company’s next single malt endeavors.
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