Gordon & MacPhail
Regional Vatted Malts

James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail announced the opening of their 'centrical and commodious premises' on South Street, Elgin, the whisky capital of the world, on 24th May 1895, promising to provide their customers with 'the utmost satisfaction' and guaranteeing 'a superior article at a popular price'.

The original business combined groceries with wines and spirits, but from the outset, there was a strong leaning towards whisky. The firm blended and bottled under its own labels, as well as dealing in mature whiskies.

in the first year of trading, John Urquhart joined the firm to assist with the whisky and wholesale side: his youngest son George, who joined in 1933, and grandchildren now own and operate the company.

Until relatively recently, very few whiskies were bottled and sold as single malts, 98% of production went for blending. In the Highlands, however, malt whisky has always been preferred. It was gener­ally bought direct from the distilleries or from spirit merchants like Gordon & MacPhail. Their policy has always been to select and buy new whisky direct from Scotland's leading distilleries, warehouse it themselves and bottling it when they consider it to be at its best.

They carry an enormous range of whiskies - possibly the largest selection in the world among which are the following Regional Vatted Malts which we have selected as a useful starting point! Experiment with these four vatted malts and, when you have decided which style you like best, move on to the corresponding section of the List and try some of the selected single malts from the same area. It will be obvious that the four malts do not cover all five regions of our list - Highland is missing. This is simply because Strathspey is part of The Highlands but because of the large number of distilleries tends to dominate the region. By all means start with Pride of Strathspey but to disregard the rest of The Highlands is to leave your education incomplete.

1          PRIDE OF STRATHSPEY     12 Years Old     40%

This vatted malt contains the finest Strathspey whiskies and is matured in selected  oak casks for at least 12 years. The picture on the label shows one of the old and  famous bridges spanning the River Spey at Craigellachie.

2          PRIDE OF ORKNEY                           12 Years Old      40%

The two most northerly distilleries in Scotland are situated on the historic Isles of Orkney, producing their own distinctive style of malt whisky. The picture on the label depicts the 12th Century St Magnus Cathedral at Kirkwall.

3          PRIDE OF LOWLANDS                   12 Years Old      40%

This is a softer, mellower flavoured whisky from the gentle and undulating Lowlands in the central and southern parts of Scotland. An easy whisky to get to know.

4          PRIDE OF ISLAY                12 Years Old      40%

This whisky contains whiskies from the Isle of Islay, situated on the rugged west coast of Scotland and battered by the Atlantic seas. This whisky is pungent and aromatic and typical of Islay.