The Original Mackinlay- A Jura Connection
The beginnings of this particular story are typically
enshrouded in a bit of mist, as there was a Johnny Blue, cousin to the daughter
of the great-grandfather of Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the
United States of America. Johnny Blue and his family lived in Kintyre in the
19th century, plied the nearby waters for lobster and was a
reportedly well-known character on the west coast of Scotland. He was also a
distiller who had a business partnership with a blacksmith and cooper named
Donald Mackinlay. Johnny Blue rapidly became famous for his two grades of
distillation - moonlight and daylight. The difference between the two grades
was that the former had twice the strength as did the latter.
Donald Mackinlay had rather ingeniously devised
specialised barrels for slated butter that had an inner compartment for the
whisky. Such deception permitted the evasion of the watchful eye of the
exciseman. Cargo was shipped in this manner regularly through Grogport on the
Mull of Kintyre to Saltcoats in Ayrshire where the local miners readily
consumed it.
In 1809, Charles Mackinlay was born in Ayrshire. In
1815, John Hunter, a tea, wine and spirit merchant was trading at 109 High
Street, Edinburgh. In 1824, at age 15, Charles Mackinlay became indentured to
John Hunter. The document attesting to this relationship is in the possession
of Charles’ great-great-grandson, Donald, and was witnessed by two
merchants, a writer and a surgeon. After some lack of success in the original
venture as well as in normal trading, John Hunter joined Walker Johnston &
Co., Cassell’s Place, Leith. Somewhere between 1825-1826, Walker Johnston
& Co. relocated to 4 Great Junction Street, Leith. At the same time,
Charles Mackinlay was accepted as a staff member. In 1830, Walker Johnston
& Co. moved again to 104 Constitution Street, Leith and, much later (1960),
to Salamander (then, it was Bath) Street.
Charles Mackinlay married Isabella Caverhill in 1834,
and following the deaths of both George Walker and Robert Johnston, Charles
assumed as partner in 1839. In late 1842, Walker Johnston & Co. was
dissolved by mutual consent, partnership was established with William Deans,
and the business was renamed, Mackinlay & Deans. This partnership was
dissolved in July 1847.
Thus, in 1847, Charles Mackinlay & Co. was born. It
is said that young Mr. Charles used to enjoy a round of golf on the nearby
course at Leith, and it was to match this sporting spirit that he conceived The
Original Mackinlay. Charles was appointed a
Baillie of the Leith town council in 1849. He was later offered a provostship
but declined owing to ill health. Having built a highly successful distilling
company, Charles died, aged 58, at 14 Pilrig Street, Leith in 1867.
Charles son, James, who had apprenticed to Buchan &
Johnston, Chandlers, Leith as well as to Lawrie Son & Nephew, London,
assumed responsibility for running the Company. He took in his brother, Charles
W. Mackinlay, as a partner, with James handling sales and Charles W., the
financial duties. During the same year, the Edinburgh & Leith Wholesale
Wine & Spirit Association was formed, with James Mackinlay as Secretary.
In 1875, brand Mackinlays Vatted Old Benvorlich
Scotch whisky was registered. In the late 1870’s, London offices were
opened, first on Queen Victoria Street then to Crutched Friars. Thus,
Mackinlays Vatted Old Benvorlich, probably one of the first blended Scotch
whiskies to be marketed, was introduced to London. An early account was
established with the Refreshment Department at the House of Commons. Whisky was
still being provided there as late as 22 December 1885, according to a letter
from Alexander Gordon & Co., Ltd, Pro & Es.
Charles Mackinlay & Co. purchased Corbett Borthwicks
Warehouse, East Old Dock, Leith, in 1875. Notable Mackinlay & Co. employees
included James Buchanan (1879), Thomas Dewar (cashier, 1881) and James Watson
(1891). In 1885, James Buchanan left the Company to found Black & White
Scotch Whisky and became Lord Woolavington. James Mackinlay and John Birnie
built the Glen Mohr Distillery, Inverness, trading as Mackinlays & Birnie,
Ltd. Working with a Frenchman named Saladin, this distillery became the first
to install a Saladin box (during the 1950’s), which was to revolutionise
the malting process.
In 1894, Charles Mackinlay & Co., Ltd, acquired
several important agencies:
- Taylor Fladgate & Yeatman, Oporto
- Sancho Romate Hermanas, Jerez
- Bruninghurst, Beaune
- Louis Olanier & Co., Cognac
- Pinet Castillion & Co., Cognac
- Ayalia & Co., Champagne.
Sadly, Charles W. Mackinlay died in Inverness in 1896.
The same year, James Mackinlay took into partnership both his eldest son,
Charles, and Thomas Dewar.
Charles Mackinlay married Edith Crabbie, daughter of John Crabbie of John Crabbie & Co. Ltd, Great Junction Street, Leith, in
1898. In the same year, James Thomson left Mackinlays for a wholesale firm in
London but returned to Mackinlays as their London manager in 1903.
In 1905, the Mackinlay Company built a new bonded
warehouse, Charlotte Street, Leith, for bottling. In 1907, Sir Earnest
Schackleton, explorer, asked the Company to supply the official Scotch whisky
for his Antarctic expedition to the South Pole. This momentous trip began
aboard the S.S. ENDURANCE. Empty bottles of The Original Mackinlay were
discovered by a later expedition, still standing on Schackleton’s
base-camp desk.
In 1908, James Mackinlay was called to present evidence
to the Royal Commission constituted to report on Scotch whisky and other
potable spirits. Also this year, the London office of Mackinlays moved to Mark
Lane. The Port of London Authority bought the Crutched Friars property.
In 1910, Sir Robert Usher resigned as Chairman of the
Edinburgh & Leith Wholesale Wine & Spirit Association. James Mackinlay
was appointed Chairman, Thomas Hutchinson became Secretary. (Thomas Hutchinson,
then a Director, J. C. Thomson & Co., later was Knighted, and eventually
Sir Thomas Hutchinson became Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh.) At a
function in the Queens Hotel, Leith, James Mackinlay was congratulated on his
43 years of service as Secretary - an event reported in the Leith Observer of
that week.
In 1915, Thomas Dewar retired, owing to ill health,
Thomas Hutchinson resigned as Secretary of the Edinburgh & Leith Wholesale
Wine & Spirit Association but James Mackinlay remained as Chairman. James
Watson, of Mackinlays, took the office of Secretary, which continued until the
liquidation of the Association. After the 1914-1918 War, the Whisky Association
was formed. During 1915, the Mackinlay Company purchased two bonds - Timber
Bush, Leith (Nos. 32 and 72) for bulk storage. Thomas Dewar died, aged 61, in
1917 and James Watson and James Thomson became partners - Watson in Leith and
Thomson in London.
At the commencement of the 1914-1918 War, the Mackinlay
Company owned 4 bonded warehouses in Leith. After the 1914-1918 War, the
Mackinlay Company acquired the Glen Albyn Distillery, Inverness and became
partners with J. G. Thompson & Co. Ltd to rent the Littlemill Distillery
from COL Ferguson Buchanan of Auchen Torlie. Mackinlays also purchased A.
Alexander & Co. Ltd, Henderson Turnbull Ltd, Mackintosh & Co, Inverness
and Robert Brown & Co., Glasgow.
In 1922, John Russell joined Charles Mackinlay &
Co., followed in 1924 by Ian James Mackinlay, the only son of Charles
Mackinlay. Ian had received training at other companies. It was also in 1924
that the London office removed to Trafalgar House, 11 Waterloo Place, SW1.
James Mackinlay, senior Mackinlay at Charles Mackinlay
& Co., died, aged 83 in May 1926, at 18 Eglington Crescent, Edinburgh.
In 1927, Bottling Bond, Charlotte Street, Leith, was
unable to cope, so No. 1 Bond, Mitchell Street, Leith, was purchased and the
Charlotte Street premises were altered to become a duty paid warehouse and
cooperage.
James Watson, after 2 years of indifferent health, died,
aged 59, in May 1930. He had been a very prominent Freemason holding the office
of Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the first commoner ever
to hold the position.
In August 1930, Donald Mackinlay was born and in 1932,
Ian James Mackinlay became a partner.
In 1933, the United States of America repealed
prohibition and Mackinlays substantially increased their filling programme.
The premises at Constitution Street, Leith, were purchased for enlarged
cooperage activities. (This site included the Masonic Lodge used by Robert
Burns on his visits to Leith.)Charles Mackinlay sadly died, aged 63, at 4 Belford Park
from a serious heart attack.
In 1928, Archibald Watson and James Currie Thomson
(elder son of previously noted James Thomson) were made partners.Ian James Mackinlay and James Currie Thomson, T. A.
officers, received immediate call up on the commencement of the Second World
War, 1939. Ian James Mackinlay was captured by the Japanese at Singapore and
remained a prisoner of war until 1945. James C. Thomson - Cameron Highlanders
-served in the Middle East, in the western desert and in Italy. Wounded during
the advance in Italy, he was to be decorated in the field.
After 1945, the Mackinlay Company was entrusted with the following
agencies:
- Mackenzie & Co. - Sherry
- United Rum Merchants - Rums and Tia Maria
- Calvert of Bordeaux - French wines
- Taylors - Port
In 1952, William H. Thomson (cadet son of James, above)
joined the Company. In October 1953, Donald Mackinlay joined the Company,
becoming a Director in 1958. In the intervening years, William H. Thomson and
John Russell also became Directors.
In 1960, Charles Mackinlay & Co. Ltd was purchased
by Scottish & Newcastle Breweries. Scottish & Newcastle joined Charles
Mackinlay & Co. with John E. McPherson & Sons, Ltd to trade in the home
market as Mackinlay-McPherson, Ltd. Ian James Mackinlay continued to head up
the Mackinlay Company.
New premises for Charles Mackinlay & Co. were
relocated to 9/21 Salamander Place, Leith, in 1962.
In 1974, by popular demand, Charles Mackinlay & Co., then a part of
Newcastle Breweries, decided to reintroduce the Isle of Jura ‘s only
single malt Scotch whisky.
Donald Mackinlay assumed the post of Chairman in 1983
and during his tenure as Company leader, single malt whisky continued to be
brewed from the Isle of Jura. Craighouse, on Small Isles Bay, is the capital of
Jura. It is here that the Isle of Jura Distillery is located, drawing water
from the spring of Bhaille Mharghadh, which runs through a cave once used by
smugglers on to quartzite and over peat and heather. A distillery on this spot
was part of island life as early as 1810 but was closed during WW I.
Invergordon Distillers acquired Charles Mackinlay, Ltd
in 1985 and, thus, control of Jura and Glenallachie distilleries from Scottish
& Newcastle Breweries.
In 1989, Donald Mackinlay paid a visit to Australia on
the occasion of a major shift in bottling policy of The Original Mackinlay
Finest Old Scotch Whisky. Following a pattern set by Long John and Teachers the
previous year, the BIA (Bottled in Australia) practice was to change to BIS
(Bottled In Scotland) in order to keep control of bottle contents. Apparently,
even with manufacturing under license, the costs were too great to supervise
from Scotland.
Bottling entailed receiving the spirit and adding
water to dilute the whisky to bottling strength (37 percent alcohol). BIS
whisky was more expensive because the freight component to ship bottle-strength
whisky rather than concentrated spirit had to be added. Peter Scudamore-Smith,
of The Brisbane Sun, commented that he “would rather add to the
image of Mackinlay by seeing it diluted with soft and mellow Scottish stream
water, rather than the chlorinated waters we know. Many cities of the world
have terrible tap water which makes life difficult for the purist whisky
drinker who takes water with a dram.”
Mackinlay standard whisky is at least five years old
(all three brands - 5, 12 and 21-year old - all must exceed age three years),
with portions drawn from both grain distillation and malt whisky. Charles
Mackinlay & Co. Ltd - in 1989 part of the Invergordon Distillers Group -
operated from five distilleries. The grain distillery churns out clear spirit
that is the price reducer for all standard whisky. These whiskies are regarded
by their spirit proportions - Mr. Scudamore-Smith’s taste suggesting 85
percent grain and 15 percent malt in the Mackinlay. He indicated that the
percentage of malt rather than average age is the major determinant of the
whisky’s regard. In all fairness, during a recent communication with Mr.
Donald Mackinlay, after his having an opportunity to review Mr. Scudamore-Smith
comments, Mr. Mackinlay assured me that even the 5 year-old Mackinlay had a
malt content that never was less than 34%. Apparently Mr. Scudamore-Smith’s sensitivity for
estimating malt content was somewhat inaccurate!
Charles Mackinlay & Co. Ltd, at least in 1989, had malt whisky
distilleries on the Isle of Jura, in Speyside at Glenallachie and one in the
Highlands, Tullibardine at Blackford. The focus of malt whisky content in
blended whisky becomes much more apparent with Mackinlay’s two older
deluxe whiskies - Legacy 12 year-old and 21-year old. Malt whisky continued to
create interest worldwide, with sales globally at three percent of the whisky
market in 1988, while only 1.5 percent in 1985. The Original Mackinlay is
described as “sweet, mellow, full-bodied, lingering taste, malty, rich
amber colour.”
Almost as an epilogue, the acquisition of Charles
Mackinlay Ltd by Invergordon gave way to further acquisition of Invergordon
Distillers by Whyte & Mackay Group for American Brands, Inc., in 1995. Jim Beam Brands World-Wide, Inc., in turn,
subsequently acquired Whyte & Mackay Group.
In
summary, the story of conceiving, distilling and bottling The Original
Mackinlay by Charles Mackinlay during the 19th century is a
fascinating one. During the last decade, Donald Mackinlay has retired as
Chairman of the Company. However, this splendid, blended Scotch whisky, with
its Jura connection, can still be purchased throughout the world from its
Invergordon offices in Leith. The manager of the firm is Mr. Norman Mathison, a
most cordial gentleman, who is delighted to entertain inquiries regarding The
Original Mackinlay and other Invergordon products that are the heritage of the
Charles Mackinlay & Co. Ltd. It is curious, indeed, that one has come full
circle from the original Donald Mackinlay of Jura to his “namesake,” who is the
last of a long line of Mackinlays to shepherd the fine product originally
conceived by Charles Mackinlay, his great-great-grandfather.