American oak Sherry cask quantity 336 was stuffed on 3 February 1940 on the Speyside distillery, and emptied 85 years and two days later, on 5 February 2025, yielding a complete of 125 decanters – designed by American architect Jeanne Gang on the theme of ‘Artistry in Oak’.
The discharge, bottled at 43.7% abv, is the newest in a collection of record-breaking single malts bottled by Gordon & MacPhail, together with an 80-year-old Glenlivet, priced at £90,000 in 2021 and brought from a cask additionally stuffed on 3 February 1940; and a 75-year-old Mortlach, launched in 2015 at £20,000.
‘We’ve not bottled this simply because it’s 85 years previous, however as a result of we’ve been monitoring it for therefore lengthy, and we all know that it’s excellent,’ Stephen Rankin, director of status at Gordon & MacPhail and fourth-generation member of the family, informed Decanter. ‘Age is the quantity, however why it will get bottled is the standard. It’s not bottled as a result of it’s very previous; it’s bottled due to the standard.’
Rankin defined that the cask was ‘so essential’ to making sure that high quality at such a sophisticated age: cask 336 was an American oak ‘transport cask’ used to ship wealthy oloroso Sherry to Scotland from Williams & Humbert in Jerez, with unusually thick staves and a good grain serving to to make sure that the wooden didn’t overwhelm the distillate.
The cask was stuffed early within the Second World Conflict on the orders of father and son John and George Urquhart, at a time when whisky manufacturing was curtailed attributable to rationing and lack of manpower. ‘Most distilleries had minimize manufacturing by half, Glenlivet most likely by two-thirds,’ stated Rankin.
On the time, the overwhelming majority of malt whisky was destined for the blends that dominated the market – however Gordon and MacPhail was uncommon in earmarking casks to be bottled in their very own proper as single malts.
‘This cask was stuffed to be aged past what was regular for the time,’ stated Rankin. ‘That was what Gordon & MacPhail have been already doing – and it will have been destined for single malt, and a single malt of age. We have been the licensed bottlers for Glenlivet at the moment.’
Tasting notes for the whisky are being stored underneath wraps, however Rankin stated that earlier releases from the identical interval shared outstanding similarities with at this time’s Glenlivet, together with a particular orange notice – alongside a sooty smoke extra redolent of the manufacturing strategies used on the time.
Full particulars of the decanter design, in addition to pricing and tasting notes, might be introduced later this yr, with the whisky attributable to be launched in October 2025. Decanter #1 might be auctioned by Christie’s New York in November, with proceeds (minus prices) donated to American Forests, a US non-profit organisation centered on forest restoration.
These all in favour of buying Gordon & MacPhail 85 Years Outdated from Glenlivet Distillery ought to register their curiosity at gordonandmacphail.com.
