The Perfect Collection by Mr. Richard Gooding Digital Catalogue - Magazine - Page 62
ROYAL BRACKLA
1924 60 YEAR OLD
40% | 75cl
By Joe Wilson
Head of Auction Content
Whisky Auctioneer
F
ounded in 1817, Brackla distillery was the first
in Scotland to be granted a Royal Warrant,
becoming Royal Brackla at the behest of King
William IV in 1835. The distillery was primarily
tasked with providing malt for blending, and became
part of DCL (now Diageo) in 1943. One of the
many distilleries forced to close due to a production
surplus in the 1980s, Royal Brackla was mothballed
between 1985 and 1991. Royal Brackla, along with
the other distilleries associated with the Dewar’s
brand, was sold to Bacardi in 1998. Its single malt
was bottled by Diageo as part of the Flora & Fauna
range and within the Rare Malts Selection, but it did
not have a permanent range of distillery bottlings
until 2014. The releases dating prior to this have
become increasingly sought after.
A real rarity, this bottle of Royal Brackla was
distilled in 1924 and bottled at an incredible 60 years
old. The bottling of Royal Brackla single malt had
previously been licensed to blenders, John Gillon &
Co., and as such, the distillery did not have a brand
in place for the production of this release. As a result,
DCL tasked another of the blenders within their
stable, James Buchanan & Co., with the bottling of
these and since they were never intended for public
sale, they were hastily filled into their Black & White
branded bottles.
Only 62 were ever bottled, and they were given
out as gifts to staff and local dignitaries upon the reopening of the distillery in 1991.
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