The march of the ultra-rare Scotch continues, this time courtesy of single malt specialists Gordon & MacPhail. This entity, who has been around the world of fine Scotch whisky since 1895, has unveiled four new bottlings to its Private Collection Ultra label that are being released for purchase this fall.

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What’s described as “four extremely rare Speyside whiskies” were chosen by those behind Gordon & MacPhail, all of which are over 55 years of age. They include:

  • A 61 Year Old Linkwood, the oldest ever released, from cask No.279 of Linkwood in the company warehouses (55 bottles released, each pricing a little over $10,000)
  • A 62 Year Old Glenlivet initially matured in first fill Hogshead before being transferred to another first fill Hogshead in January 1969 (69 bottles released, each pricing a little over $10,000)
  • A 63 Year Old Mortlach from the company’s last cask of 1951 Mortlach (61 bottles released, each pricing a little over $10,000)
  • A 57 Year Old Strathisla, the oldest ever released (61 bottles released, each pricing over $10,000)

Now one would expect that whisky at this price level would come in packaging worthy of a king, and that definitely seems to be the case. According to Gordon & MacPhail, they are presented

in beautifully-designed decanters, individually numbered, with the whisky details engraved and in-filled with silver colour. A silver-plated neck collar and stopper adorns each decanter.

Wood, metal and glass are combined in a striking and innovative way to protect and display the whisky; the decanter nestles in a glass-bottomed pack, revealing a hint of the whisky colour.

A series of four books by whisky writer Jonny McCormick, one for each of the whiskies, tells the story of Gordon & MacPhail and the whisky and regales the reader with tales of origins and ancestry, of people, place and belonging.

Gordon & MacPhail is no stranger to dealing with rare whiskies. It, for example, made history in 2010 by bottling the oldest cask ever released – a 70 year old Mortlach, distilled in 1938. They followed this up by releasing a 70 year old Glenlivet in 2011.