St. Magdalene / Linlithgow

   

Saint Magdalene distillery was founded in 1798 by Sebastian Henderson and was located in Linlithgow, to the west of Edinburgh.

DCL The Distillers Company Limited took over the distillery in 1912 after it went into liquidation and then in 1915 it became one of 5 distilleries which founded the SMD company, along with Clydesdale, Glenkinchie, Grange & Rosebank.

St. Magdalene distillery was refurbished or refitted in 1927 but sadly, was closed in 1983.

 
 

Following closure in 1983, the site was sold and turned into a residential development with buildings turned into apartments.

The whisky was bottled under both names of St. Magdalene and Linlithgow.

 

More great distillery info here, thanks to Malt Madness

Photos reproduced with kind permission of Teimei Horiuchi

 

 

 

  St. Magdalene

General whisky characteristics: Floral with grass and perfume, some older IBs can be very complex and powerful

 
   

D. Laing, St. Magdalene, 24y, distilled Dec. 1982, 50% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€

Old Malt Cask (the photo is a typical OMC presentation and not this Millburn)

 
 

Nose: Slight heather, herbs and a very faint touch of liquorice.

Palate: Immediate spice, liquorice and citrus (lemon).

Overall Impression: A very surprising whisky with a penetrating and complex character. I really like this one!

 

   
   

Dun Bheagan, St. Magdalene, 26y, distilled Oct. 1982, bottled 2009, 50% ABV

Cask (Butt) No. 2219

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€

 
 

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Extremely pale gold / yellow

Nose: Lightly perfumed grasses, malt and a touch of raspberry.

Palate: Plenty of fruit with raspberry at the fore.

With 3 drops of water: More grassy on the nose, whereas the palate has expanded to include fruit, nuts and herbs.

Finish: Long, longer with water.

Overall Impression: Fruity, floral, I like it!

 

   

 

 

Linlithgow

General whisky characteristics: Very fruity, complex, some mild toffee

   
   

Signatory, Linlithgow, 26y, distilled 1982, 61.2% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€

"Dram-atics" live review

 
 

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Light gold

Nose: A quite complex mixture of extremely aromatic and gently perfumed wood, light butterscotch or mild toffee, good old-fashioned fruit cocktail and a dollop of je ne sais quoi.

Palate: Creamy mouth-feel which gives the initial impression of being extremely smooth, but this is 61% and a very warming pepperiness soon kicks in. The flavours begin with a burst of fruit and hints of mild toffee which remain creamy as they expand across the palate with that high abv pepperiness. The palate moves into the finish with hints of raspberry.

Finish: Very long, fruity and with slight pepper. All concentrated right in the middle of the palate.

Overall Impression: This is a truly excellent whisky, but the one sample was a little too short to experiment with water which I feel it needs. I'll be back to this one in the next days.

A second review two weeks later:

Glass: Classic Malt / Colour, Nose & Palate: as above

With 3 drops of water: Much more polished wood on the nose and extremely aromatic. The palate is much smoother and far less peppery with lots of mild toffee and butterscotch.

With 4 more drops of water: The nose is less complex but still very aromatic with a focus again on polished wood, albeit a little lighter. The palate is a very smooth mixture of light toffee and gentle wood.

With a further 4 drops of water: A lighter and much more gentle palate of soft toffee and light wood.

Finish: Always very long.

Overall Impression: This whisky definitely improved with water, but only with the first two additions, the third was just a little too much. An exceptionally good whisky!

 

   
 

 

Linlithgow, 30y, 1973-2004, 59.6% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; Unknown

Dram-atics "Classics" review

 
 

Glass: Glencairn

Colour: Rich yellow gold

Nose: Delightful, yes it's light with some hints of wood and vanilla alongside gentle furniture polish. It soon develops a wonderfully floral creaminess too.

Palate: A very creamy mouth-feel which exudes exotic fruits and vanilla.

Finish: Long, very long with a slight pepperiness and quite delightfully repetitive too.

Overall Impression: Did I say delightful? Did I say I love it? Did I say it's a true "Great"? Well, it is all of these.

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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