St. Magdalene Rare Malts Selection 23 Years Old 1970 (58.1%)

A distillery bottling of St. Magdalene, aged 23 year old from 1970 and bottled at 58.1%. Established in the mid 18th century on the site of a former convent, St. Magdalene was shut by DCL in 1983. Originally the Linlithgow distillery, it took the name St Magdalene from a convent that once stood on the site.

It was drawn off coal fired stills fed by an on site artesian well, for a waxy, grassy spirit with sharp white fruit. Ex-Bourbon casks held the spirit, soft oak that lets the oily character lead. By this age the waxy, mineral character rounds into honey and orchard fruit. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the waxy, mineral core over decades. Closed in the great cull of 1983, it never reopened, the buildings becoming flats. The pagoda topped malt barn survives as a listed building above the new apartments. There were no official bottlings in its lifetime; its fame came with Diageo's Rare Malts.

Bottled at a cask strength 58.1%, it is rich. A gentle vanilla from the wood, with a mineral, oily character with sharp fruit. The texture is oily and coating, the wax threaded through. The finish runs oily, mineral and warm. This is stock from a closed Lowland legend, ever scarcer.