Gordon & MacPhail

120 years of whiskey history with two letters?

The importance of Gordon & MacPhail - in short: G & M - for whiskey can not be overstated. In times when malt whiskey was less popular and easily available, it was G & M who were the only single malt to offer bottlings of certain distilleries. Without the independent dealer and bottler from Elgin, many malts would not have existed for a long time.
Already in 1895, James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail opened their store on South Street in Elgin. Amid Speyside, the heart of Scottish whiskey production. No wonder that whiskey was a focal point of the store from the beginning, but that there were also other spirits, tea, wine and delicacies. Also from the beginning was a certain John Urquhart. Initially hired as an apprentice, the 15-year-old did well and rose quickly. John advised the chefs on the selection of barrels and the composition of the house blends. In 1915, after the death of James Gordon, John Urquhart took over the management of the company, which is still in the hands of the Urquhart family.
Own Single Malt bottlings of selected barrels and distillery license bottlings (eg Macallan, Glenlivet, Glen Grant or Mortlach) have made G & M one of the big names in the whiskey world over the decades. In particular, the Connoisseurs Choice series, under which label innumerable rarities appeared, consolidated the worldwide fame. In 1993, Gordon & MacPhail took the step from whiskey merchant to whiskey maker with its own distillery, acquiring the flagging Benromach Distillery and getting it back on its feet. Another chapter in the long history of whiskey merit by Gordon & MacPhail.
Incidentally, the store on South Street, which started it all, still exists.

Which whiskey do they make?

From the house Gordon & MacPhail comes from much, what stands worldwide in the whiskey shelves. The best known series are: Connoisseurs Choice, G & M Reserve, G & M Centenary Reserve, G & M Private Collection, MacPhail's Collection, Speymalt (Macallan). G & M also did the license bottling for various distilleries - and of course there are the malts from their own distillery Benromach.

speciality of the House

Those looking for old, really old, single malts often end up at Gordon & MacPhail. Probably no other bottler had and has a portfolio that goes back so far. Various Glenlivets from the 40s? A Talisker from 1956? 70 years old Mortlach? To have everything from Gordon & MacPhail.

Facts & Figures about Gordon & MacPhail

Founded: 1895 by James Gordon and John Alexander MacPhail
Owner: Family Urquhart
Address: George House, Boroughbriggs Road, Elgin, Moray IV30 1JY, Scotland (Head Office);
58-60 South St, Elgin, Moray IV30 1JY, Scotland (Shop)

Phone: +44 (0) 1343 545110
Website: www.gordonandmacphail.com