 Gordon
& MacPhail was founded by James Gordon
and John Mac Phail in 1895 when they
opened a shop at South
Street, Elgin, Speyside, Scotland. It
was a family grocers, tea,
wine & spirit merchants.
Among the new shop's first employees was
John Urquhart, a lad of fifteen who was
to serve his apprenticeship under the
partners. He was an able learner, and
before long was helping James Gordon to
select and buy casks of malt whisky from
local distilleries, and assisting with
the creation of house blends for the
firm's customers around the north of
Scotland. When John MacPhail retired in
March 1915, John Urquhart became a partner in
the business, and when James Gordon died
suddenly only two weeks later, he became
senior partner.
In parallel with the grocery side of the
enterprise, John Urquhart developed the
whisky broking business begun by James
Gordon, and in particular began to
specialise in single malt whiskies -
bottling under license for famous
distilleries such as Macallan, Glenlivet,
Glen Grant, Linkwood and Mortlach. As
part of this business he began to select
and fill his own casks - almost always
Spanish oak, ex-sherry casks - at these
and other distilleries, and to mature
his whiskies for much longer than was
customary at the time.
John Urquhart was joined by his son,
George, and daughter, Betty, in 1933,
and by another son, Gordon, in 1950. By
this time the family firm held the
largest range of bottled malt whiskies
in the world. Most makes were
unavailable elsewhere, since very few
distillery owners bottled their own
malts as singles - indeed, it is no
overstatement to say that Gordon &
MacPhail single-handedly kept the amber
lamp of aged malt whisky burning during
the post-war decades!
In the mid-1960s George Urquhart took
the unprecedented step of launching a
range of single malts from different
distilleries under the brand name
'Connoisseur's Choice', and offered the
range for sale in the rapidly expanding
Italian, French, American and Dutch
markets. This move laid the foundations
for the significant interest in malt
whisky in these countries that remains
to this day.
Just as his father had introduced him to
the firm, so George brought in his own
children. The oldest, Ian, joined in
1967, after having been trained in the
wine and spirit trade in London and
France. He was followed by David in 1972
and Michael in 1981. The former had
studied business in Aberdeen; Michael is
a Chartered Accountant. George's
daughter, Rosemary joined in 1990, after
raising her family.
The family partnership became a limited
company in the late 1970s, but ownership
and management remained with the family,
as it does to this day. George Urquhart
died in 2001, five years before his
grandsons Stephen Rankin and Neil
Urquhart were appointed Associate
Directors, they became Directors in
September 2010.
Today sees other members of the fourth
generation join the firm as Richard
Urquhart (Export Regional Sales Manager)
and twin brother Stuart (Associate
Director - Whisky Supply) continue the
family tradition and support the company
as it moves into a fast-paced,
technology driven 21st century.
Gordon & MacPhail Whisky Brands include
Connoisseurs Choice, Benromach, Cask
Strength, Rare Old, Private Collection, Macphail's Collection, Rare Vintage,
Macphail's and Speymalt from Macallan.
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