"It's very important that when family members come into any business, they come in for the right reasons. So my job wasn’t guaranteed [initially]! If I didn’t like them, there’s a door. If they didn’t like me, there’s the same door."

– Gordon & MacPhail's Director of Prestige and fourth generation member Stephen Rankin

Gordon & MacPhail would often remind us how important family legacy and the words of "The Father of Single Malt" George Urquhart are to their business. Yet, beneath these century-old roots lies a firm with a very keen eye on the future.

Established in 1895 in Elgin, the company is perhaps the most renowned independent bottler of single malt whiskies with a long-standing symbiotic relationship with practically every established Scotch distillery. Gordon & MacPhail bottles an incredible range of whiskies, from underrated expressions to rare and coveted whiskies and long-gone ghost distilleries the likes of Port Ellen or Brora. They sit on a treasure trove of some of the oldest Scotch whiskies in existence, and at one point they had casks of Macallan and Glenlivet so old, the distilleries they originated from no longer have them! It’s safe to say no other company can rival the expertise Gordon & MacPhail has in maturing Scotch whisky to perfection.

Gordon & MacPhail initially started as a grocery, tea, wine and spirits merchant. With their central location in Elgin, the heart of the whisky-producing region of Speyside, they naturally became involved in the whisky trade.

This era is slowly coming to an end. Last year, the firm made a groundbreaking announcement for the whisky and independent bottling landscape. It will no longer fill casks from other distilleries. Over the next decade, the firm would gradually shift its focus from independent bottling to nurturing the firm’s own distilleries – Benromach and The Cairn. This prompted much speculation about the future of single malt whisky but also marks the start of an exciting new chapter for Gordon & MacPhail.

Second-generation owner, George Urquhart was instrumental to the modern day popularity of single malt Scotch, promoting it at a time when the Scotch industry was only interested in blends.

I was fortunate to sit down with a key person from the firm to discuss Gordon & MacPhail’s next chapter: Director of Prestige, Stephen Rankin. Charming, soft-spoken and laced with a gentle Scottish brogue, Stephen is a fourth-generation member of the Urquhart family which has owned and operated Gordon & MacPhail since its inception.

We met in a quiet corner of La Maison du Whisky‘s bar in Singapore, during the Singapore launch of the exquisite new Benromach 50 Years Old. Stephen had travelled halfway around the globe for this, but it was clear that this isn’t just a job. He speaks of the amber stuff with such contagious passion, as if it’s a magical elixir that has transformed his life.

Stephen shared candid stories about growing up with the Urquhart family while being immersed in the world of Scotch. He pulled back the curtain on the rigorous training that all had to undergo before being deemed worthy of joining the family business at Gordon & MacPhail – a programme designed to ensure they understood not just whisky, but also wines, brandies, gins, vodkas, aquavit, and how whisky fits into the broader world of spirits. 

From there, we delved into the dramatic evolution of the Scotch industry over the past fifty years, which led to Gordon & MacPhail’s difficult decision to step away from independent bottling and focus on the future of their distilleries. We also learnt just how several generations of Gordon & MacPhail experts would meticulously track the aging of their precious liquid over staggeringly long periods – sometimes exceeding 80 years! 

Join our conversation with a key figure from one of the most important companies shaping the future of Scotch!

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"I did all my qualifications in wine. I learnt about other spirits, such as brandy, Cognac, Armagnac, or even gins, vodkas, and aquavit... My grandfather and uncles found this knowledge invaluable because to truly understand whisky, you need to understand its position in the broader world of spirits and drink."

[88B]: Before we get into Benromach and your work at Gordon & MacPhail, we think our readers would love to hear from you about your unique experiences growing up in one of the oldest families of whisky independent bottlers and distillers.

Could you share with us some of your fondest memories of growing up in a family where whisky basically runs in your blood? From your early impressions of your grandparents and your uncle Ian who were involved in Gordon & MacPhail’s whisky business, what do you think whisky meant to them?

[Stephen]: Unlike my cousins on my mother’s side who grew up in Elgin with their fathers Ian and David Urquhart [who were working in Gordon & MacPhail], I grew up in Inverness and initially found myself seeing a lot of my father’s work as a chartered surveyor. While she was working as a physiotherapist in Aberdeen, my mother, Rosemary, met my father.

I would visit and spend weekends with my cousins, Neil, Jenny, Richard and Stuart. We'd see each other on holidays and at Christmas, and in the summertime, we'd spend a lot of time at my grandparents' house in Findhorn. As cousins Richard and Stuart were growing up, I would see them more because we were learning to sail with their dad, and Findhorn is just the best place for that. I would also get to come into the Gordon & MacPhail offices, run up and down all the stairs, and in and out of the different rooms. Some of them were storage rooms, full of wonderful stuff from our grocery and Italian warehouse side of the business. But then, now and again, I'd get to go to the warehouses and see the magical casks, and it was fascinating!

(Source: Visit Findhorn)

I started my professional life as a chartered surveyor after studying at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, which was the finest university for what I did. Around time I just turned 30, my uncle had a chat with me about work for the company, explaining that they would love for the business to continue as a family business and to protect [its independence].

Now, family businesses are, in many ways, the lifeblood of Scotland. The success rate of family businesses going down through generations has been getting slimmer and slimmer, so it's very important that when family members come into any business, they come in for the right reasons. So my job wasn’t guaranteed! If I didn’t like them, there’s a door. If they didn’t like me, there’s the same door. At Gordon & MacPhail, we have a policy of ensuring that any family member who joins does so for the right reasons. We try very much to avoid nepotism in its purest sense, and we also make sure that if someone does come in, they understand the purpose, vision, and values of the business, many of them being family values.

Stephen with his uncle Michael (centre) and his cousins from the rest of the Urquhart family.

So I joined their Leadership Development Programme and underwent close to 2 years of training. It wasn’t just an opportunity to come into the business, but to truly understand it. You left everything behind, including any thoughts of shareholding or family ties, and you started right at the bottom. The first thing you learn to do is how to make whisky.

"I had been given some wonderful advice by my father about drinking Scotch, about how wonderful a drink it is, and to respect it. He told me to make sure I approached it for the right reasons at the right moment, not just as a product to drink in excess or only for happiness, because if you overdo it, you can ruin your relationship with the drink. Those words stuck with me."

I spent the first three or four months with Bob Murray and Keith Cruickshank at Benromach Distillery, learning the key nuts and bolts of all the influences that make spirit, and what makes Benromach special. While you're doing that, you're learning about malting. You visit the maltsters, meet them, and learn about the different processes for malting barley. Once you're truly grounded in that, you then, as we say, "follow the whisky." Whisky then goes into casks, so we take a detailed look at the casks. We examine our century-plus-long relationships, such as with the Bodegas Williams & Humbert family and the Lobato family in Jerez, Spain. These relationships are key, as is the role of wood and how it interacts with the spirit over time—this is at the heart of what Gordon & MacPhail is really about.

Benromach Distillery today.

Once you’ve done that, you learn about the bottling process. Everywhere you go, you had to take on a key project—maybe something the manager in that area had been wanting to focus on but didn't have the resources for, or something business-critical where an external perspective was useful. The idea was to bring insight from a different angle. So, everyone who does this Programme takes on various projects.

During the Programme, you also learn about adjacent industries, like the wine world. I did all my qualifications in wine. I learnt about other spirits, such as brandy, Cognac, Armagnac, or even gins, vodkas, and aquavit and how they fit with the world of whisky —I could cross-relate these and it gave me such a well-rounded understanding of distillation. My grandfather and uncles found this knowledge invaluable because to truly understand whisky, you need to understand its position in the broader world of spirits and drink.

So, you're creating many multi-layered educational moments in your development, but the most important thing is understanding the people you work alongside. As you go around the business, you literally work with everyone to the point that you could stand in for someone if they were off sick. You did everything, even the back-office work. As Mary Allen, who worked in finance, used to say, "A sale is never a sale until you've got the money." So, we learned all about finance, HR, purchasing, and so on. It was a great grounding.

Stephen with La Maison du Whisky's Bar Manager Clement in Singapore.

Of course, we also learned firsthand from our sales colleagues, whether it was working across the UK or dealing with our distributors, like La Maison du Whisky. We’ve worked with them since they were founded by Georges Bénitah, who had a wonderful meeting with George Urquhart. The two Georges created some magic together, and those family ties still exist to this very day.

I have lots of fond memories from that journey, lots of wonderful time spent with my grandparents. I was extremely fond of both sets of my grandparents—they were great people, loving people. I also spent great times with my aunties and uncles.

Even when I was working in Edinburgh as a professional surveyor, I would go sailing with my uncle on weekends and compete in regattas. My sailing skills were nowhere near as good as his, but I served a purpose—maybe just as ballast on the boat! *Laughs* But I was useful muscle to pull ropes and hopefully make the boat go faster! It was a great experience.

While we sailed, my uncle David would often take bottles of whisky and do tasting events—maybe at a marina, a yacht club, or with nearby customers. It was wonderful, always an extension of promoting the brand, whether Gordon & MacPhail or Benromach. It was fantastic. I ended up working very closely with David for many years.

"When I started working in 2000, single malt made up just 2% of the volume of Scotch whisky sold worldwide, and maybe 3% or 4% of the value at most. Gordon & MacPhail had already identified that single malt whisky, in the long term, was going to rise."

[88B]: Could you also share with us the story of how you were first properly introduced to whisky?

[Stephen]: I had been given some wonderful advice by my father about drinking Scotch, about how wonderful a drink it is, and to respect it. He told me to make sure I approached it for the right reasons at the right moment, not just as a product to drink in excess or only for happiness, because if you overdo it, you can ruin your relationship with the drink. Those words stuck with me.

So, I did come to it with respect, and to this day, it’s my drink of choice. I love it and enjoy drinking it in different ways. There’s no wrong way to drink whisky, but I just have so much more respect and appreciation for it now. That’s what set me up when I started coming into the business. Knowing a little about Scotch at first, it sparked this appetite and passion within me to just keep learning more and more.

I loved what I did in the past [as a chartered surveyor], but when I started working with whisky, what transpired was when I met my friends outside of Gordon & MacPhail, they just couldn’t believe the transformation in me. Suddenly, I was this excited, passionate enthusiast for the product.

If you meet any of my colleagues who represent Gordon & MacPhail to consumers and visit the famous premises in Elgin on South Street, go in and speak to Fraser, Nigel, Russell, Gail, Kelly, Sean, and Alana, who’s now working with us. They all have that passion and that brilliant understanding. You’ll get the most wonderful experience, which brings whisky to life—not just through the amazing elixirs but through the passion of the people.

I think it’s that combination that makes whisky so exciting. When you meet my peers in the industry who do what I do, it’s like sparks flying, because these are people who, like you said, have whisky coursing through their veins. They just love it, appreciate it so much, and want to share that love as well.

I’ve been in a really blessed place because at Gordon & MacPhail, the relationships we’ve had is built on the premise that we truly thank and respect everyone we’ve done business with. We’re merely standing on the shoulders of those giants—they put us here. That’s why we can see further, see wider, and clearer, because of all the work they’ve done. You could argue that Gordon & MacPhail, when it comes to malt whisky, has been at the peak of that.

We’re all on a wonderful journey, like a train. There’s the interrelationship between bigger multinational businesses with these wonderful, dynamic, international blended products—and the big brands of single malt whisky. And Gordon & MacPhail has been woven throughout the whole of that industry.

"Many of the rare “lost distillery” whisky we have were not of lost distilleries back when Gordon & MacPhail bought and filled their casks! In fact, when the industry was having its tougher times, Gordon & MacPhail stepped up our bottlings—not because we were trying to be super clever, but because we were trying to be helpful [to the Scotch industry]."

[88B]: A couple of decades may seem like a blink of an eye to the whisky industry. However, that’s not to forget that the global demand for whisky has grown pretty dramatically within the past 20 to 30 years, and even more so within the recent decade. 

Could you share with us your observations on how the whisky industry and market for whisky has evolved over all these years? Looking back, were there any differences that would surprise whisky lovers today?

Were there any particular countries with interesting whisky market dynamics that you don’t really see elsewhere?

[Stephen]: When I was 12 and probably a little too young to fully appreciate it, I got the opportunity to travel to Italy on my own with my grandparents. That was wonderful—a great insight. But you know what I remember most? How highly respected George was. He loved the people he dealt with there, and they loved him. They spent a lot of quality time in Italy because it was a market very receptive to our products. Likewise, Germany and France were the same.

Stephen Rankin at work in one of Gordon & MacPhail's vast warehouses (Source: Scotchwhisky.com)

The blended whisky market had been dwindling since I was growing up in Inverness, and I saw many distilleries close down – even the two distilleries about 500 yards from Muirtown Primary School, which I attended.. Sadly, in my time, I saw the hustle and bustle of those distilleries slowly fade as they were closed down, then converted into retail premises and warehouses for DIY stores and the like. It was quite sad.

Most people did not have the vision for single malt whisky and completely closed down their distilleries. Now, you can imagine George, his three brothers, and his daughter Rosemary—my mum—in that position going, “But that’s what we’re trying to pedal!”

Consumers today may not believe this but many of the rare “lost distillery” whisky we have were not of lost distilleries back when Gordon & MacPhail bought and filled their casks! In fact, when the industry was having its tougher times, Gordon & MacPhail stepped up our bottlings—not because we were trying to be super clever, but because we were trying to be helpful [to the Scotch industry]. That was an income in two or three ways. One, for the spirit we were purchasing. Two, we provided the casks, so they didn’t need to purchase them—that was a cost saving. And three, it was an income for the storage of our casks sitting in those distilleries. So that had real value to many distillers, and allowed them to keep going.

I remember at some point in the 2000s, Damien Riley-Smith, who owns Paragraph Publishing (which produces Whisky Magazine and runs Whisky Live), came in looking for my uncles. He struck up a conversation with my uncle Ian, and I realised that Ian knew Damien’s father well. It was only then that I found out Damien’s father was one of the owners of Jura Distillery. Damien explained to me that his father speaks fondly of Gordon & MacPhail because there were times when, if it wasn’t for the contracts Gordon & MacPhail had for filling and sending Jura’s casks, Jura Distillery probably would have had to run silent, because the income kept things going.

There are lots of stories like that from various sources about these relationships. The consumer might not always hear about them, but behind the scenes, the Scotch whisky community works very closely together, supporting one another. That’s another reason why you get so passionate about it—because you enjoy being part of that supportive community.

As I grew up knowing about Gordon & MacPhail, I saw how things in the whisky business evolved. By the 1980s, when I was a teenager, and into the 1990s when I was at university and starting my professional life, I saw how malt whisky was becoming this niche, exciting category.

When I was at university, there was a wine and spirits store called Oddbins just up the street from my flat. For your background, Oddbins championed these exciting, niche producers who were doing things outside the mainstream. They weren’t just carrying the growing supermarket whisky selections; they had something special.

One of our classmates who studied architecture worked at the Oddbins store on the weekends and would invite us to all these events. He’d say, “Stephen, your family’s coming in to do a Gordon & MacPhail tasting—their whiskies are fantastic!” So I’d go in, feed that back to the family, and experience their whisky like a consumer. At that point, you could see that single malt whisky was really starting to come to life.

When I started working in 2000, single malt made up just 2% of the volume of Scotch whisky sold worldwide, and maybe 3% or 4% of the value at most. Gordon & MacPhail had already identified that single malt whisky, in the long term, was going to rise. The decision to buy Benromach was therefore about taking control of our destiny and fulfilling a dream. John Urquhart had the dream of buying a distillery and famously missed out on buying Strathisla Distillery back on 15 ^th of April 1950, when it went to auction after the demise of its former owner Jay Pomeroy.

As a sidenote for any of your readers hunting for a unicorn in the whisky world, back then, Strathisla Distillery wasn’t called Strathisla; it was called Milton Distillery. The last year it operated under the name Milton was in 1950, and I believe Gordon & MacPhail probably only did one bottling ever of Milton in 1949. If you look at its bottle, you’ll see it says, "Carefully matured in our own casks, with spirit entrusted to us from… MILTON DISTILLERY." We couldn’t say the distillery was Strathisla in 1949 because it wasn’t. So we labelled it as Milton Distillery. That bottling was only done two years ago, in 2022—a 72-year-old whisky.

"Everyone talks about these well-known lost distilleries, but I believe other distilleries deserve attention too. We have a series called the Recollection Series and it lets people taste other lost gems that aren’t coming back. Imperial, for example—what a whisky!"

[88B]: Much of Gordon & MacPhail’s renown lies in the exceptionally valuable stocks of rare and high age statement single malts that it sits on – some of which was procured from closed distilleries, making them that much more coveted.

What do you make of it, and why do you think certain legendary distilleries (such as Port Ellen for instance) see disproportionately more intense cult followings compared to other closed distilleries that also hold their own with very high quality? What are some ghost distilleries that you think deserves far more attention?

[Stephen]: So, you talk about single malts and rare, high age statements, which, of course, Gordon & MacPhail is famous for. It’s part of the market we’ve been focusing on since long before anybody else did. Don’t take my word for it—take Charlie MacLean’s word. He calls us the "grandfathers of single malts," especially George Urquhart. Michael Jackson famously said that if it wasn’t for Gordon & MacPhail and George Urquhart, we would not know single malt as we know it today. They single-handedly kept the amber light of aged whisky burning while everyone else had their heads turned to blends.

All of this is true, and it gave us a significant head start. Now, we’ve got whiskies in casks that surpass what anyone else has. As for the lost distilleries—when we filled casks from those distilleries, they weren’t closed yet. Our goal was to support them, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, and they eventually closed.

On to your question about what makes some lost distilleries so popular—there are two aspects to this. The first is visibility. Back in the day, when malt whisky wasn’t such a big thing, distilleries like Brora, for example, were revived in 1972 to produce peated whisky to maintain stocks while there was a drought in Islay, for use in key blends. It was never intended to be a standalone single malt but rather an ingredient in world-famous blends. We were filling Brora casks and trying to showcase it as a single malt, but there weren’t as many eyes on it back then. It only had a small following of enthusiasts, people curious about single malt.

For instance, when Michael Jackson wrote his Malt Whisky Companion, around 65-70% of the whiskies in that first book were Gordon & MacPhail whiskies—that tells you a lot. But what we found is that these distilleries are so popular today because more people are seeing them now. The rarity and scarcity factors have been elevated as more people learn about them. Back then, people didn’t have the chance to compare these whiskies with others like they do today at whisky shows, where they can taste and compare a wide range of whiskies and say, "Wow, that's delicious," or "That one's wonderful." Those avenues didn’t exist back then, so it was a different landscape.

So, long story short, the reason they're more desirable today is that more people have tried them, more people are enthusiastic about them, and now that they’re more limited in availability, they’ve become even more coveted. To the point that Port Ellen and Brora have been reborn by Diageo, and our friends at Ian MacLeod Distillers have revived Rosebank . Rosebank has a fascinating story. Diageo was originally considering it for the Lowland malt in their Classic Malts collection, but it ended up going to Glenkinchie instead. Why? While the distillery produced a fascinating spirit—triple-distilled, yet using worm tubs, making it oily, fragrant, light, and fruity—it was in a rundown area, and that played a part in the decision.

Everyone talks about these well-known lost distilleries, but I believe other distilleries deserve attention too. We have a series called the Recollection Series. We’ve released two iterations, with another coming out soon, and it lets people taste other lost gems that aren’t coming back. Imperial , for example—what a whisky! I’ve got some lovely bottlings at home from the 1990s, and we’ve got bottlings here from 1979 in the Recollection Two series that are just beautiful. But the distillery has since been levelled, and there’s now a new distillery in its place. That’s one that should excite people.

Other distilleries like Banff, Glenlochy, and Convalmore also deserve more focus. I recently opened a Gordon & MacPhail Rosebank 1991 and a Private Collection Glenesk 1984. Now, Glenesk had five different names and was located in Montrose. We lost it back in the 1990s, and today it’s a maltings facility. But it’s also a lost distillery that needs more attention.

I also have a soft spot for the two or three Inverness distilleries. We haven’t seen a Milburn release in a long time, but you’ll see Glen Mhor and Glen Albyn in the Recollection Series. They’re lovely whiskies. In fact, we have an amazing Glen Albyn in the Recollection Two series that should attract a lot of interest because it’s such a great whisky.

There’s lots to look forward to. The new Recollection Series comes out in November this year, with fresh packaging and a little something different, so it’s going to be exciting.

We are tremendously grateful to Stephen for sharing his invaluable insider's perspectives on the changes in the whisky industry through the decades and Gordon & MacPhail's evolution!

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