St Magdalene was built by Sebastian Henderson circa 1753 in Linlithgow, a royal burgh in the Lowlands of Scotland, at the time home to five distilleries. The distillery prospered and grew as it changed hands, before, like so many others in the early 20th century, falling into decline due to a surplus of competition in a failing market. Distillers Company Limited (DCL) bought St Magdalene from liquidators in 1912, making it one of the founders of Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD) two years later. It was a second crisis in the 1980s that eventually got the better of the distillery and, like so many others, it closed in 1983. All that remains is the pagoda roof, with the rest of the building being converted into apartments in the 1990s. Curious enthusiasts will need to turn to independent bottlings or Diageo’s Rare Malts and Special Releases to get a taste of St Magdalene whisky, which is also found under the name Linlithgow.

A St Magdalene distilled in 1981 and bottled in 1997 under the label Spirit of Scotland by Gordon & MacPhail, one of Scotland’’s oldest independent bottlers. 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.