Throughout my career at Whyte & Mackay, that spans nearly 40 years, I have on many occasions had the privilege of sharing a wee dram of one of my own whiskies with the rich and famous. I’m not talking about rejects from “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here” but genuine A-listers (you know, the Hollywood types).

Unfortunately many of my friends and colleagues never believe me. So maybe its time I shared my Goldie Hawn secret. Yes she drinks Whyte & Mackay 40yo!

Believe it or not several months ago Goldie Hawn visited my home town of Glasgow. Making the pilgrimage to Scotland’s foremost city (sorry Edinburgh) to speak at a Charity Fundraising dinner at the Hilton, Goldie was presented with a special commemorate Whyte & Mackay 40yo to celebrate her 40 years on the silver screen. The bottle, which listed all of her starring roles over the past four decades, was presented to her by a good friend and colleague of mine David Brown (that’s the lucky one in the photograph).

I remember one of my colleagues writing afterwards “Ms Hawn, who searched for the elixir to provide eternal youth in the film ‘Death Becomes Her’ was delighted to receive Scotland’s very own Aqua Vitae (the water of life), meaning this was really a case of life imitating art”.

Whyte and Mackay’s ‘Original’ 40yo is the oldest and the rarest blended scotch available: in my view it’s a definite must have for all you luxury whisky connoisseurs and enthusiasts.

Bottling the ‘Original’ was an incredibly emotional time for me; I felt that I was encapsulating over a 160 year’s of Whyte & Mackay’s deep rooted values of quality and craftsmanship with this unique and magnificent expression. I can still remember that day and how I felt that one of the company’s foremost individuals; Major Hartley Whyte was watching me. It was Major Whyte whose original idea it was to lay down the fledgling spirit that evidentially became this truly fantastic liquid way back on 16th June 1966.

For those that don’t know the ‘Original’s’ hand blown bottle is reminiscent of the earliest Whyte and Mackay styles dating back to 1800s.  Packaged in an antique Hessian bag within a bespoke wooden casket each entity proudly displays the Whyte and Mackay iconic double-lion emblem.

Only 1,000 bottles have been released, each one includes a certificate of authentication that I have proudly signed.