Strathclyde 34 year old Murray McDavid Mission Gold

This single grain distillery creates its spirit by using mainly wheat, resulting in a creamy style, perfectly suited to mature in American rye whiskey casks. Maturing this  devilishly good single grain spirit in small rye casks, from  Koval Distillery in the USA has, after 4 years, resulted in a tasty, superbly balanced whisky that goes without saying. Its a perfect example of what can be achieved with the art of Maturation.

Strathclyde Distillery

Strathclyde distillery is located in the Gorbals on the south side of the River Clyde opposite Glasgow Green. It is worth mentioning that the site is located so close to the park where James Watt was struck with inspiration for his vapour-driven engine. 

The distillery which sits on the site of an old cotton mill,  was initially built by London distiller Seager Evans in 1927 mainly to supply neutral grain spirit for its gins. In 1936, Seager Evans moved into Scotch with the purchase of the Long John brand.

In 1957, like many grain distilleries, Strathclyde secreted a malt plant – here called Kinclaith – inside its walls. This ran from 1957 to 1975 when it was removed to make way for a two-phase expansion of the grain/neutral spirit side of the operation. At the same time, the firm’s blending and warehousing site next door was also demolished.  It is now part of the Chivas Brothers stable and still, amazingly, goes unnoticed by the strollers along the banks of the Clyde. 

Murray McDavid independent bottlers

For nearly 30 years, independent whisky bottler Murray McDavid has been a pioneer in the Scotch whisky industry, leading the way in the Art of Maturation.  Former wine merchant and legendary whisky entrepreneur, Mark Reynier, founded Murray McDavid in 1994; later joined by the acclaimed distiller, Jim McEwan. Mark’s connections gave him access to casks from iconic wine producers, which quickly gained Murray McDavid a reputation for creating innovative whisky in interesting casks.

 Today, they continue to challenge whisky industry conventions. Their Royal Brackla Distillery and Coleburn Distillery whisky warehouses, filled with thousands of casks of maturing whisky from over 90 distilleries in Scotland, enable them to offer a wide range of inspired and artfully matured Scotch whisky.