Closed Distillery Archives

Convalmore 1975 Gordon & Macphail

28th May 202527th May 2025Coldorak

Convalmore Distillery, established between 1893 and 1894 in Dufftown, Speyside, Scotland, is a now silent single malt Scotch whisky distillery renowned for its distinctive waxy and fruity character. Originally constructed during the late Victorian whisky boom, it was one of Dufftown’s famed seven distilleries and primarily contributed to blends such as Black & White and Lowrie’s. The distillery underwent various ownership changes, including acquisition by James Buchanan & Co. and later integration into the Distillers Company Limited (DCL), now part of Diageo. After modernisation efforts in the 1960s, Convalmore was mothballed in 1985, and its site was sold to William Grant & Sons, who repurposed the buildings for whisky maturation linked to Glenfiddich and Balvenie. Although distillation ceased decades ago, Diageo retains the rights to the Convalmore name, leaving open the possibility of other future releases under this historic name. Convalmore’s whisky does not seem to have been bottled officially as a single malt during its operational years, making official single malt releases rare and highly sought after today (a few were released by Diageo as part of the Rare Malts, Special Releases, Prima & Ultima and the Casks of Distinction series since the 2000s). However, today we are not reviewing an official bottling; instead, we are reviewing a Convalmore 1975 from Gordon & MacPhail, released in 2015.

Port Dundas 46 and 47yo Scott’s Selection

30th April 202530th April 2025Coldorak

Glasgow’s Port Dundas distillery, founded in 1811, was a pivotal yet often overlooked landmark in Scotland’s whisky industry. Initially a malt distillery, it soon shifted to grain whisky production with Coffey stills. In 1860, it merged with Cowlairs distillery, and in 1902 absorbed Dundashill, then the world’s largest pot still distillery. By 1885, Port Dundas was Scotland’s largest distillery, producing over two million gallons annually using American corn, barley, and rye. It was a founding member of the Distillers Company Limited (DCL) in 1877, supplying grain whisky for major blends like Johnnie Walker and Haig. Despite surviving fires and wartime closures, it modernized in the 1970s. However, in 2010, owner Diageo consolidated production at Cameronbridge, leading to Port Dundas’s closure and demolition in 2011. We review two independent bottlings from the now-defunct distillery: the Port Dundas 46 and 47yo Scott’s Selection.

North British 1989 & North of Scotland 1973 Scott’s Selection

3rd March 20254th March 2025Coldorak

Today, we’ll explore two single grain whiskies that share a common thread: their names both start with “North.” One has an intriguing history and is still in operation, while the other has a complex, double-layered past that has come to an end. If you’re feeling a bit confused, don’t worry—I intentionally made it sound complicated. So, take a seat, pour yourself a dram, and let’s break it down together. Once we’ve cleared things up, we’ll dive into tasting and reviewing two single casks: a North British 1989 and a North of Scotland 1973, both bottled by Scott’s Selection.

St. Magdalene 1980 Gordon & MacPhail

24th February 202523rd February 2025Coldorak

St. Magdalene, one of Scotland’s lost Lowland distilleries, is renowned for its elegant yet complex whisky, often showcasing a delicate balance of fruit, spice, and subtle waxiness. Closed in 1983, its remaining stock has become increasingly rare, making any opportunity to taste a well-aged expression a special occasion. Today, I’m reviewing a St. Magdalene 1980, bottled by Gordon & MacPhail—a dram that promises to offer a glimpse into the storied past of this historic distillery. Let’s see how it holds up after a decade and a half of maturation.

The Lost Distillery Company Blends

6th September 20226th September 2022Coldorak

The Lost Distillery Company is a… company with the ambition to revive whisky from several long gone distilleries. During the 20th century, many Scotch distilleries shut down, because of wars, prohibition, or because they went bankrupt. They released blends trying to reproduce the production of seven lost distilleries, five out of those being still available. Each of those seven blends was then available in three different editions. The Classic edition is bottled at 43% and is the ‘youngest’ of the editions. The Archivist ones seem to be made from older component as their profile is said as being ‘extra mature’ (the classic is just ‘mature’) and is bottled at 46%. Finally, the Vintage Selection ones are the oldest and are also bottled at 46% ABV. No Vintage on our menu today, but we’ll review today either a Classic or an Archivist batch of all the Lost Distillery Company blends.

Port Ellen 1979 Signatory Vintage (1993)

11th June 2022Coldorak

A few days ago, as I was approaching quite a milestone for me in my whisky journey, I made a poll on Twitter asking what should be my 1000th dram. Amongst the propositions, I had this Port Ellen 1979 Signatory Vintage and a Brora 1981, also from Signatory Vintage. With more than 60 votes and until the very last seconds, it was a ‘huge’ battle between the two, that ended in… a draw. Since I wasn’t going to do blend of the two as my 1000th different whisky tried, I decided for the Port Ellen to be the 999th whisky (because it had two nines in its vintage), whilst the Brora would be the 1000th whisky I’d try (and also because my first Brora was my 500th whisky, so let’s stay consistent). So here we are, with an old bottling from a closed distillery (for now, as it should reopen next year): a Port Ellen 1979 Signatory Vintage (and from my vintage, thanks for the easy pun).

Glen Albyn 1974 Gordon & Macphail (2003)

29th May 202229th May 2022Coldorak

Second whisky of my closed distilleries series comes from Inverness in the Highlands. We have today a Glen Albyn 1974 from Gordon & Macphail‘s Connoisseurs Choice’s range, at the time of their map labels. But first, let’s talk about Glen Albyn history and a view about how it ran at the end of the 1800s. Then, we’ll review this Glen Albyn 1974 Gordon & Macphail.

Glenesk 1980 Gordon & Macphail (2014)

24th May 202229th May 2022Coldorak

During my few days in London a few weeks ago, I went twice to the absolutely fantastic Melody Whisky Bar, and treated myself the first time to a Closed Distilleries flight, and the second time other few closed distilleries as well as some unicorns. I took detailed tasting notes whilst taking the time to study these whiskies from now silent stills (for most of the whiskies I tried there), and so now I’ll put those notes down on those pages. Whilst all of these whiskies might not be as good as the melancholy for silent distilleries would want them to be, these are witnesses of other times and stories and as such, deserve respect and attention. And as you’ll have guessed, we start with this Glenesk 1980 from Gordon & Macphail this series of reviews of whiskies from closed distilleries.