The presentation inscription reads WHITE HORSE CELLAR/CORONATION SNUFF MULL 1902./PRESENTED BY/P.d. MACKIE.LAGAVULIN.ISLAY.
This presentation cup was likely created in relation to the coronation of King Edward VII in August of 1902 by Scottish distiller Sir Peter Jeffrey Mackie, first baronet (1855-1924). Born at Corsepatrick, St. Ninians, Stirlingshire, Mackie was the son of Alexander Mackie, a distiller whose family had been a part of the wine and spirits trade for a number of generations. After his education, Mackie joined his father’s firm James L. Mackie & Co. in 1878, and in the mid-1880s became partner of the new firm Mackie & Co. which created the White Horse whiskey using a blend of Lagavulin, a famous dark malt from the island of Islay. The blend itself is named after a coaching inn on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, a building that still stands today and was traditionally the starting point for the eight-day coach trip from Edinburgh to London. Mackie would become chairman of the firm upon his father’s retirement in 1895, and remained in charge until his death in 1924.