Linlithgow

St Magdalene stood in the town of Linlithgow, west of Edinburgh, on land once belonging to a medieval hospital dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. It was one of the larger Lowland distilleries of its time and later became part of the Distillers Company, the forerunner of Diageo. It closed in 1983 during the wave of closures that hit the Scotch whisky industry, and its buildings were later converted into housing.

Because the distillery no longer exists, every bottle is old stock from casks filled before 1983. Independent bottlers often label it with the town name, Linlithgow, rather than St Magdalene, which is why both names turn up in shops. The spirit is generally known as a lighter, grassy Lowland malt that gained weight and fruit with long ageing.

Most bottles a buyer meets come from independent bottlers. Our catalogue lists vintages from 1973, 1975 and 1982 bottled by Signatory, by Douglas Laing's Old Malt Cask and by First Cask, at ages from 17 to 30 years. Official bottlings were rare, the best known coming through Diageo's Rare Malts series under the St Magdalene name.

One item in our data, Distillery LinGin, is not from the old distillery at all. It is a gin from the newer Linlithgow Distillery, a small modern business in the town that has revived local distilling.