Linlithgow – 1982 Mackillop’s Choice (70cl, 62.6%)

Linlithgow – 1982 Mackillop’s Choice is a whisky from Linlithgow (Lowland). Bottled at 62.6% ABV, 70cl. St Magdalene, or Linlithgow as it was also known, was a sizeable distillery occupying a prime position between the Union Canal and railway line. The distillery benefitted not only from its own rail sidings but its own wharf as well, where coal and coke were landed to fire St Magdalene’s stills. The distillery was built in the mid-18th century by Sebastian Henderson, to oppose the construction of Bulzion distillery that appeared a few years earlier. Henderson had rented the lands of St. Magdalene’s Cross convent from the Countess of Dalhousie to build the distillery. In 1798 the distiller and provost Adam Dawson, who already operated the adjacent Bonnytoun distillery, bought St Magdalene and transferred his operation across. Dawson’s business soon grew so that St. Magdalene absorbed the original Bonnytoun site, stretching out across 10 acres of land. St Magdalene was the last of the five distilleries to close in the royal burgh of Linlithgow in 1983, and it has now been turned into flats which can still be recognised by the pagoda vents that are a prominent feature of the buildings. Two official bottlings were released as part of the Rare Malts series as well as several independent bottlings. Mackillop’s Choice independent whisky bottler was founded in 1996 by Angus Dundee Distillers (owner of the Glencadam and Tomintoul distilleries). It is named after Lorne Mackillop. Lorne Mackillop is the heir to the chief of the Mackillop Clan, which was all but wiped out by the English in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden in 1745 during the Jacobite Rebellion. Linlithgow Please note minor creasing to carton.