Scotland, Northern Highlands. Distillery operational. Owner: BacardiDespite its exceptional pedigree, Royal Brackla is and always has been a blender's malt. And yet, few distillers can lay claim to such a heritage. Founded in 1812, King William IV granted it the “Royal” epitaph in 1835, making it the first distillery to receive the distinction. During the Second World War, it housed the Royal Air Force Air Gunnery School and became an alternative landing strip. Having been the property of John Bisset & Co since 1926, it then joined the Distillers Company Ltd in 1943 (the future United Distillers). In addition to playing a key role in the blends Bisset, Johnnie Walker and Dewars, in the 1990s it was given a special place in the Rare Malts Selection and Flora & Fauna ranges. Nonetheless, it was primarily saved from oblivion by two exceptional editions, the Royal Brackla 1924, 60 Year Old, limited to 62 bottles worldwide, which was bottled to mark the reopening of the distillery in 1991; and a decanter from the same year produced in 60 editions for the Japanese market.

A Royal Brackla distilled in 1972 and bottled in 1995 by Gordon & MacPhail for the Connoisseurs Choice collection. Gordon & MacPhail is one of the oldest independent bottlers in Scotland. It was founded in Elgin in 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail. As was often the case at the time, it was a delicatessen and wine retailer. 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’’s death in a car accident. The company worked with many major Speyside distilleries, from which it collected considerable stocks. It was also licensed to bottle the whiskies of many of these distilleries, including Glen Grant, Linkwood, Mortlach, Macallan and Glenlivet. Business was booming in the 1970s, with distributors in several countries and sale of casks to many Italian bottlers; its selections became legendary. Today, Gordon & MacPhail is still directed by the Urquhart family, in the original building, and is one of the most iconic bottlers in the industry, with vast stocks of often very old whiskies that are difficult to find elsewhere. Gordon & MacPhail controls maturation from start to finish. It has also owned the Benromach distillery since 1993. Connoisseurs Choice is one of Gordon & MacPhail’’s spearhead ranges. Created for the Italian collector and importer Edoardo Giaccone in the early 1970s, it entered the standard collection in 1979 and has been part of it ever since, although it has undergone many changes, from the map labels to its gradient labels and finally the design found today. Older editions were reduced to 40% and coloured artificially. Today, the whiskies in the range feature their natural colour and are sometimes cask strength.