43% abv 750 ml
As the label proclaims, there is a close association between this old blend and Glen Scotia Distillery, one of the few survivors of the great Campbeltown distillery cull of the 1920’s when almost all the establishments there were either closed or dismantled.
The brand was one of a handful marketed by A. Gillies & Co (Distillers) Ltd of Glasgow who, for a time, owned Glen Scotia. It was also found as a 21-Year-Old in a decanter presentation, but the 12 Years Old is the better-known version and this 1970’s example is the rarest of the rare as it comes with the eagle back of the bar display unit which is included in the price. Despite good sales in Japan and the USA it was eventually withdrawn from sale.
This product is located in Australia.
About the distiller
A. Gillies & Company (Distillers) Limited
A. Gillies & Co was established in Glasgow in 1832 by the Galbraith’s. It went through a series of owners eventually being acquired by Sir Maurice Bloch, founder of whisky blenders and brokers, Bloch Brothers of Glasgow.
The firm acquired the Glen Scotia distillery in 1955 from Hiram Walker, which had itself bought the distillery 12 months earlier as part of their purchase of Bloch Bros in its entirety in 1954, but had found it surplus to requirements.
In the same year A. Gillies & Co bought the disused warehouses of Ardlussa and Glen Nevis distilleries in Campbeltown. The two neighbouring distilleries were both closed in 1923, though their warehouses were combined in 1936 by Glen Nevis and Ardlussa Warehouses as a blending and bottling facility.
A. Gillies & Company was eventually absorbed into the larger consortium called Amalgamated Distilled Products Limited (ADP) in 1970 as the latter’s core distilling and blending arm. which became part of supermarket tycoon James Gulliver’s Argyll Group in 1983. Further corporate developments led to ADP acquiring Barton Brands, which added Loch Lomond Distillery to the assets alongside the Glen Scotia Distillery, which A. Gillies & Company modernised and reconstructed between 1978 and 1979. However, the whisky industry travails of the 1980’s caused them to shut Glen Scotia in 1984 for a period of five years. This led to ADP’s distilling assets being sold in 2014 to Gibson International, now known as Loch Lomond Group, into which A. Gillies & Co was eventually dissolved to become just another footnote in Scotland’s fascinating whisky history.
Following Gulliver’s failed bid to purchase Distillers Company Ltd in 1985, A. Gillies & Co, along with ADP’s distilling interests, which included Glen Scotia and Littlemill distilleries, were sold to Gibson International. Gibson was later acquired by Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse Ltd in 1994.
Principal brands owned by A. Gillies & Co included Old Court, Royal Culross, Old Governor, Old Worthy, Royal Culross and, of course, Scotia Royale. They also bottled as a single malt Glen Scotia at 5 and 8 years old. Scotia Royale and Old Court brands were transferred to Loch Lomond Distillers in 2014 but have long been dormant.