Gordon & MacPhail, established in 1895, is one of the oldest bottlers in the UK. They introduced their 70 year old single malt, Mortlach 1938, at an event at the British Embassy in Tokyo on 13 July. There were only 54 bottles made (two were bought by Japanese customers) and the first bottle was presented to the Queen. The price of one 700ml bottle is over 10,000 pounds (2 million yen)!
Mr Michael Urquhart, third generation President (pictured) 
visited Japan for the event to introduce their 100 different whiskies, working with their local agent, Japan Import System.
The UKTI Japan Food and Drink team assisted the event by identifying and inviting key media contacts, not only from food and drink magazines but also from lifestyle, interior, gift and fashion magazines which we have a strong relationship with.
The 70 journalists enjoyed one 10ml sip each of the valuable old whisky!
The Japanese whisky market has been improving due to both the revived demand for single malt whisky and the improving quality of Japanese whiskies. The recent popularity of “high ball” (whisky and soda) has helped develop a new market amongst younger consumers.
Mariko Hasegawa
UKTI Japan