Inverness (The Northern Scot), May 11 (14/05) Gordon and Macphail has unveiled an extremely rare 64-year-old whisky in honour of George Urquhart.
Mr Urquhart, a member of the second generation of the company’s owning family, helped bring single malt whisky to the world.
‘The Mr George Legacy 1957’ from Glen Grant Distillery in Rothes is the second edition to be released as part of the whisky creator’s Legacy series.
Only 298 bottles of the single cask whisky have been made available to purchase – each going for the substantial fee of £6,000.
Stuart Urquhart, grandson of ‘Mr George’ as he was known, and Gordon and Macphail’s Operations Director, said: “In some industry quarters my grandfather was fondly thought of as slightly eccentric due to his relentless focus on maturation, painstakingly selecting the right cask to match with each particular spirit.
“He was intrigued to know how long the whisky might take to reach its peak and would have known he might not be around when that moment came. That is his legacy to our family and to whisky drinkers who love the rich complexity of the ultra-aged single malts he laid down decades ago.
“The latest release in the Legacy series comes from Glen Grant distillery, for which my grandfather had a particular affinity.
“Local to us in Speyside, Glen Grant was the first distillery to use a purifier in distillation which resulted in a lighter spirit.
“Back in the 1950s, the spirit would have been slightly smoky due to floor maltings and a small level of peat being used – which is a style rarely seen in today’s modern Speyside whiskies – giving this whisky a charred oakiness that is perfectly balanced by long-term maturation in a Sherry cask made of American oak.”
Distilled on Thursday October 10, 1957, the second edition of the Legacy Series was bottled on Tuesday November 9, 2021 at a cask strength of 56.1 per cent ABV.
Whisky expert Charles Maclean added: “This is a gorgeous whisky, rich and multi-layered, still vibrant and vital in spite of its great age. A worthy tribute to the man who first drew the world’s attention to the glories of single malt – Mr George Urquhart.”
More information can be found here.
