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Flora MacDonald 1st Edition (1992) Wood St Emilion Finish 15YO 50%

Flora MacDonald 1st Edition

Region: Island   
Strength: 50%
Wood: St Emilion Finish
Distilled: 29 April 1992


Tasting Notes:
Nose: Creamy and salty with some light smoke and strawberry jelly. Medicinal, meaty and oaky
Palate: Powerful, spicy, earthy and slow developing fruity sweetness. Chocolaty
Finish: Smoky and light sweetness and strawberry tart.



The Auld Alliance

"To drink withe ws the new fresche wyne,
That grew apone the revar Ryne,
Fresche fragrant claretis out of France,
Off Angeo and of Orliance"

William Dunbar extols the selections of wine to be found in Edinburgh to King James IV

Dating back to 1295, the Auld Alliance, a military and diplomatic alliance, was aimed at curtailing England’s expansion south and north. The original Alliance that granted dual citizenship in both countries was eventually revoked by the French government in 1903. The signing of the Auld Alliance also gave the Scottish merchants the privilege of selecting the first choice of Bordeaux’s finest wines. A privilege which was eagerly protected for hundreds of years, much to the annoyance of English drinkers who received an inferior drink. French wine tended to be landed on Wine Quay at Leith and rolled up the streets to the merchant’s cellars behind the waterfront. The wine landed was mostly for the elite of Scottish Society and Clan Chiefs, with most commoners drinking whisky or beer which would have been stored or matured in the empty French wine casks. The Alliance was always toasted in both countries as "King over the Water" with a fine drop of Claret or Claret matured Malt Whisky.

The Auld Alliance Edition, double matured in French claret wine casks, will allow you to discover the whisky, the way it used to be over 500 years ago during the era of Flora Macdonald and more recently during prohibition times in America.



The Flora MacDonald Edition

A tribute to one of Scotland’s most romantic heroines which sealed the escape back to France of the Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Grandson of King James VII, who had come over to reclaim the throne of Britain from the then ruling Hanoverian King George.  Following the defeat of Culloden in 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie was on the run, with a bounty on his head of £ 30,000.

Young Flora MacDonald, who attended school in Edinburgh, was home for summer holidays at her brother’s in Uist in June 1746 when she was convinced to help the Prince sail over to Skye to escape the Red Coats of General Campbell, who had just landed on the island. The Prince needed to get to Arisaig where a French ship was waiting to take him back to France. Charles had to be disguised as "Betty Burke", Flora’s Irish serving maid, to cross the 45 miles stormy sea journey. After days they finally reached the area of Uig and made their way to Portree where they then parted. Charles is believed to have given her a locket with his portrait and to have said "I hope, Madam, that we may meet in St James’s yet". She was never to see him again. Charles Edward Stuart died in exile, in Rome in 1788.