Murray McDavid is a Scotch whisky bottler, founded in 1994 by London wine merchants Mark Reynier and Simon Coughlin with Gordon Wright of Springbank.1,2,3 In 2000 it became part of the purchase of the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay, and it passed to Rémy Cointreau with Bruichladdich in 2012.1,2,3 Aceo Limited has owned it since 2013, and its home is the old Coleburn distillery in Speyside.1,3,4
Its bottlings had no added colour and no chill-filtering, which cools whisky and filters out what clouds it, and it called finishing whisky in wine casks ACEing.1,2,3 On 19 December 2000 a group of investors led by Reynier bought the closed Bruichladdich distillery, and Murray McDavid became part of the deal.3,5,6
From 2000 until its sale in 2013 it belonged to the Bruichladdich company, and Jim McEwan chose the casks it bottled.4,7 It released many bottlings from 2000 to 2010, then fewer, amid talk that the brand was being wound down.4,7 Gordon Wright cut his ties with Murray McDavid and in 2005 founded his own bottler, Alchemist Beverage Company.7,8 Mark Reynier formally left Bruichladdich in October 2012, after its sale to Rémy Cointreau, and Murray McDavid's next owner was to have no ties to him.7,9
On 8 May 2013 Rémy Cointreau kept Bruichladdich and sold Murray McDavid to the broker Aceo Limited.1,3,4 In 2014 Aceo made the old Coleburn distillery its base, and its dunnage warehouse, a type with earth floors, became home to Murray McDavid's casks.1,4,10 In 2015 Edward Odim and Dean Jode relaunched the brand, adding single grains, blended malts and blended Scotch to its single malts.2,11 David Simpson, formerly of The Macallan and Glenmorangie, joined as Head of Whisky Creation.2,11 In 2022 it launched Cask Craft, single malts matured in different kinds of cask, such as sherry, port and Madeira, and aimed at newcomers.2 By 2025 its casks were kept at three Speyside sites: Coleburn, Royal Brackla and Kinloss.2
Bottles in Peated bottled by Murray McDavid, by release year.
| Year distilled | Bottles |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 1 |
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2022 | 6 |
| 2023 | 5 |
| 2024 | 7 |
| 2025 | 5 |
| 2026 | 12 |
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