St Magdalene 1982 Dun Bheagan 26 Year Old

William Maxwell & Co was a subsidiary company of Peter J Russell, who alongside sister firm Ian Macleod & Co, produced a range of blends and independent single malt bottlings. This is their Dun Bheagan single malt brand, named after the castle on the Isle of Skye. Peter J Russell rebranded as Ian Macleod Distillers in 2003, at the same time as achieving their long-held ambition of becoming distillery owners, acquiring Glengoyne, and later, Tamdhu and Rosebank.

Distilled in December 1981 and bottled in 2008, this 26 year old St Magdalene was matured exclusively in butt #2219 which yielded 390 bottles.

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.