• Highland Queen “Grand 15” 15 Years Old Blended Scotch Whisky (Macdonald & Muir Limited) 1960's
  • Highland Queen “Grand 15” 15 Years Old Blended Scotch Whisky (Macdonald & Muir Limited) 1960's

Highland Queen “Grand 15” 15 Years Old Blended Scotch Whisky (Macdonald & Muir Limited) 1960's

$550 AUD

43% ABV

75 cl

This was originally the house brand of the venerable old Leith firm of distillers and blenders, Macdonald & Muir Limited. It is not to be confused with the modern iteration of the brand, under the ownership of The Highland Queen Scotch Whisky Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Picard Vins et Spiriteux, (owner of Tullibardine distillery), which proceeded to repackage, redesign and extend the Highland Queen range to its current status, which includes a number of single malt whiskies.

Macdonald & Muir adopted “Highland Queen” as their brand by commemorating the association between the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots and Leith Harbour (where they had their premises) which is where she landed in 1561 from France.

In 1924-5 it was one of a handful of blended Scotch whiskies selected for sale at the British Empire Exhibition, held at Wembley, London. During this period and despite Prohibition, it became very popular in the US being ‘transhipped’ by importers from Nassau, and St Pierre and Miquelon. It was also popular in Canada and Australia.

This is the deluxe variant of the brand from the 1960’s and precedes the brand’s relaunch with new packaging, presentation and label design in 1976. Unusually, this example comes with presentation box, which is in reasonable condition despite its age.  We believe this example was for European markets, and the rear label bears details of the Italian importer.  The rear label announces the brand's appointment as suppliers of whisky to the households of the Kings of Denmark and Sweden.

Key malts in the blend include Glenmorangie and Glen Moray. This carries an unusually old age statement, as Highland Queen was typically marketed as a young whisky.

 

This product is located in the United Kingdom.

MACDONALD & MUIR LIMITED

This was originally a family affair, being the result of a successful partnership of two Edinburgh whisky entrepreneurs, Roderick Macdonald and Alexander Muir, who joined forces in 1893, having both previously worked together in the whisky trade at Messrs. A & J Alexander.

Their business prospered as Macdonald & Muir Limited and moved to Leith in 1901 where they took over the premises of the bankrupted Pattison’s Limited at Queen’s Dock. Success at home, not least with their “Highland Queen” brand, launched in 1893, led to a thirst for export markets where they pioneered the sale of Scotch in Egypt, Mexico, Scandinavia, and parts of South America and the Far East. Other brands included Milord’s and Three Seals, and through subsidiaries, MacAndrew’s, White and Gold, Major Gunn’s, Clan Murdoch, Baillie Nicol Jarvie, Souter Johnnie, Glen Niven, MacNiven’s Finest and MacNiven’s Royal Abbey.

Success as bottlers and blenders led to the acquisition of other companies of that ilk, plus the distilleries of Glenmorangie and Glen Moray. One such acquisition was that of James Martin & Co which led to the formation in 1949 of the holding company, Macdonald Martin Distilleries, overseeing all of the companies in the group and the two distilleries.

In 1996 the firm changed its name, after more than a century of trading, to Glenmorangie and moved from its base in Commercial Street, Leith to a bottling and office facility at Broxburn, West Lothian. In 2004 the still family-owned Glenmorangie was sold to the French luxury goods firm Louis Vuitton-Moët Hennessy (LVMH), which had been established in 1987 and boasts a portfolio of more than 60 prestigious consumer brands.

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