{"id":2066,"date":"2025-10-02T04:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=2066"},"modified":"2025-10-02T04:01:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T04:01:00","slug":"gordon-macphail-unveil-the-worlds-oldest-scotch-whisky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/?p=2066","title":{"rendered":"Gordon & MacPhail Unveil the World\u2019s Oldest Scotch Whisky"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artistry in Oak is the first Scotch to reach 85 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

As Britain readied itself for war,\u00a015 first-fill\u00a0sherry butts were filled with newmake spirit at Glenlivet distillery. One went on to be the oldest Scotch ever\u00a0bottled: an 80-year-old, released in 2021. Today, another surpasses it, becoming the first Scotch whisky<\/a>\u00a0to reach\u00a085 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They call it\u00a0Artistry in\u00a0Oak,\u00a0and\u00a0it reclaims\u00a0the\u00a0record\u00a0for G&M\u00a0from\u00a0an 84-year-old Macallan released in 2024.\u00a0Just\u00a0125 bottles\u00a0exist:\u00a0One will be auctioned for charity; the other 124 will be sold for\u00a0\u00a3125,000\u00a0($170,000)\u00a0each.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It may seem remarkable that two casks,\u00a0sitting\u00a0side by side for\u00a0more than\u00a0a lifetime, should both break the same world record. In truth, it was no accident.\u00a0Gordon & MacPhail<\/a> traces its penchant for hyper-aged malts back to 1933, when George Urquhart began his whisky career alongside his father, John.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

By 1940,\u00a0both John and George appreciated\u00a0how\u00a0whisky continues\u00a0to improve if left to age in oak for\u00a0decades. Even then,\u00a0against the grain of an industry addicted to young spirit,\u00a0the casks were expected to be around long after he and his father left the company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jeanne Gang, world-leading architect, designed a vessel that suspends the whisky in twisted bronze stems \/ \u00a9Gordon & MacPhail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That foresight is\u00a0all the more\u00a0striking given it came in the early days of WWII, as Stephen Rankin, Gordon & MacPhail\u2019s director of prestige and great-grandson of John Urquhart, told me: \u201cEarly in 1940, the Ministry of Food cut the supply of barley to distilleries by a third. At Glenlivet, production dropped by two thirds. That makes this whisky even more of a miracle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou had people laying down spirit not knowing what flag was going to be flying over their house when it turned into a Scotch whisky: a Union flag or a Swastika. For companies like Gordon & MacPhail to be laying down spirit through these tough years was a real statement of optimism.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another statement of optimism is the price point. It\u2019s\u00a0one of the most expensive single malt whiskies ever\u00a0on the primary market. The Macallan placed\u00a0a\u00a0$190,000\u00a0price tag\u00a0on its 84-year-old\u00a0Time :\u00a0Space\u00a0last year, but the 2025 market is\u00a0a very different\u00a0place.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rankin, however,\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0worried about finding\u00a0125\u00a0buyers.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely worth it,\u201d he said. \u201cWhile this is\u00a0very expensive, we want people to see\u00a0the\u00a0value in\u00a0it.\u00a0This is a piece of British history.\u00a0To give you an idea of rarity, more people this year alone will summit Everest than will ever taste this whisky.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Just\u00a0125 bottles\u00a0of Artistry in Oak exist \/ \u00a9Gordon & MacPhail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even so,\u00a0short-term investors\u00a0need not apply. The secondary market has fallen\u00a0significantly\u00a0from its heady days, and Artistry in Oak\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0be the oldest Scotch for\u00a0long, at least if\u00a0its\u00a0predecessor\u2019s trajectory\u00a0is anything to go by.\u00a0That\u00a0held the title\u00a0for less than a year before The Macallan\u2019s 81-year-old Reach surpassed it.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0now\u00a0fourth on the all-time\u00a0list.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s\u00a0also\u00a0another cask from that fateful\u00a0February day, destined to succeed its\u00a0younger siblings. \u201cThere\u2019s one left,\u201d\u00a0Rankin\u00a0told me. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0still evolving and will only be bottled when\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0amazing.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0not going to happen for some time, although it\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0reach 100\u00a0[years old].\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s\u00a0not just about the age though; the presentation makes its own statement. Jeanne Gang, a world-leading architect in the sincerest sense, designed a vessel that suspends the whisky in twisted bronze stems, echoing an oak tree encasing a piece of amber.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a reminder that the cask itself was once a living tree, decades in the making before the whisky even touched it. Elaborate packaging often takes emphasis away from the liquid. Here, it complements it. The whisky\u2019s golden\u00a0color\u00a0is central to the concept.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"
The whisky\u2019s golden\u00a0color\u00a0is central to the concept \/ \u00a9Gordon & MacPhail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And now we come to the liquid. I tried a 10ml sample of the\u00a085 Year Old\u00a0(take that, Everest summiteers), just enough to get\u00a0a good idea\u00a0of the profile. To\u00a0state\u00a0the obvious,\u00a0buyers\u00a0need\u00a0to\u00a0enjoy the antique side of whisky\u2019s\u00a0flavor\u00a0map. Varnished oak and worn leather sit prominently on the tongue, but there\u2019s life in the old dog yet. Any vibrancy or sweetness in a whisky this age would be surprising,\u00a0yet\u00a0this has plenty of it. At\u00a043.7% ABV, a drop of water releases those\u00a0sweeter\u00a0flavors\u00a0in abundance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the nose, worn, soft leather gives way to a sweet and citrussy note of marmalade. That develops into fresh tropical notes, with a hint of pineapple mixed with aniseed.\u00a0The palate is spicy at first, with chilli oil, before mellowing into worn leather, dried\u00a0tobacco\u00a0and cigar box. Sweetness follows in\u00a0orange zest\u00a0and\u00a0golden\u00a0sultanas, balanced against\u00a0drying tannins.\u00a0The finish is long and layered, carrying herbal notes that linger with a quiet persistence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The most interesting aspect is an inherent smokiness that sits in the background throughout.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0no peat, but in 1940, Speyside was a very coal-fired environment. Smoke was everywhere, from direct-fire stills to on-site barley maltings. In that sense, they\u00a0certainly\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0make whisky like this anymore<\/p>\n

Artistry in Oak will be available globally for an RRP of \u00a3125,000 (approx. $170,000),\u00a0<\/em>gordonandmacphail.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artistry in Oak is the first Scotch to reach 85 years old.\u00a0 As Britain readied itself for war,\u00a015 first-fill\u00a0sherry butts were filled with newmake spirit at Glenlivet distillery. One went on to be the oldest Scotch ever\u00a0bottled: an 80-year-old, released in 2021. Today, another surpasses it, becoming the first Scotch whisky\u00a0to reach\u00a085 years old.\u00a0 They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_preview_token":"","beyondwords_player_content":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_delete_content":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_status":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/facesjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}