St Magdalene Scotch Whisky
St Magdalene Scotch whisky distillery was founded in the late 1700’s on the site of a 12th century a hospital established by the Knights Templar to treat lepers. This was later replaced by the St Magdalene convent.
The first distillery in Linlithgow was Bulzon in 1750 this was followed shortly after by Bonnytourn founded by Andrew Dawson, one of the first recorded licensed distillers.
Sebastian Henderson obtained land adjacent to the Bonnytourn distillery and built the St Magdalene distillery. At one point the village of Linlithgow had five licensed distilleries.
In 1798 Andrew Dawson purchased the St Magdalene distillery from Sebastian Henderson. Because St Magdalene was the better distillery he switched output from Bonnytourn to St Magdalene and put the two together to form one large site.
The Dawson family was involved with production at Saint Magdalene between 1798 until 1912 when it went into liquidation and was sold to DCL.
Three years later in 1915 became one of the founding five distilleries of Scottish Malt Distillers (SMD). Along with Clydesdale, Glenkinchie Grange and Rosebank.
The distillery was refitted in 1927
The distillery like many others was closed in 1983 due to over production in the whisky industry. The site was sold for residential development and some of the buildings converted into apartments.
St Magdalene Distillery is also known as Linlithgow Distillery.
St Magdalene Whisky Tasting Notes
Distillery Style
Nose : Light grassy and aromatic.
Palate : Light to medium bodied. Creamy, oaky and malty.
Finish : Light floral and slightly peated.
