St. Magdalene 26 Years Old 1982 Closed Distilleries (Cadenhead’s)

Bottled by Cadenhead's, this St. Magdalene matured to 26 year old from 1982 and bottled at 52.7%. Just 240 bottles were filled. St. Magdalene was built in 1753 in West Lothian's county town; brought to a halt in 1983. Run by the Dawson family through the 19th century, it passed to DCL in 1912.

The spirit was made in floor malted, coal fired pot stills in the old way, for an elegant, waxy make quite its own. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, lending honey and vanilla under the grass. Beyond twenty five years the malt grows waxy and tropical, beeswax and candied fruit over an oily base. Time in the cask deepens the oily spirit into tropical fruit and beeswax. Tasters often liken its waxy, mineral edge to a fine Riesling. Floor maltings worked on site until 1968, the spirit run from five coal fired stills. It is among the most lamented of all Scotland's lost Lowland distilleries.

At a hearty 52.7% it carries real weight. Vanilla and a light cream from the barrel runs under apple, hay and a faint wisp of smoke. A beeswax and a sharp white fruit give it real depth. Beeswax and citrus see out a long finish. This is one of the great ghost whiskies of the Lowlands.