June 5, 2015

Tasting indie Macallan
plus yet another NAS

Macallan. Do you remember? Let’s have a wee bag totally at random…

Macallan 14 yo 1998/2012 (53.8%, Hart Brothers)

Colour: white wine. Nose: porridgy and minty, then grassy and very barleyish, with honey notes and touches of barley water. Getting more flowery, with nectar, more honey, yellow flowers, then more vanilla. With water: works. Grass, cereals, farmyard, very lovely whiffs of grapefruits, malty honey (or honeyed malt), beeswax… It is classy spirit. Mouth (neat): good malty and citrusy arrival, with sultanas soaked in rum and sweet white wine, pink grapefruits, and more heather honey than in Highland Park. Indeed, I find this good. With water: not many changes. Finish: medium, sweet and malty, with good citrusy background and always this honeyed side. Comments: I was joking, Macallan was, and remains a very classy spirit. It just became overpriced and marketingly boring. SGP:551 - 86 points.

Macallan 1993/2010 (56.4%, The Whisky Cask, bourbon, Germany) Sorry, no picture. Colour: gold. Nose: ah yes, it got this warm profile, with cornflakes and café latte from Starbuck’s (I’m sorry). Also plenty of hot chocolate, hazelnut cake, fresh malt, touches of tinned pineapples and some fudge. Irrefutably very nice, I say. With water: hay, tobacco, more malt, a farmyard on August 15 around lunchtime (in the northern hemisphere), ripe barley… It’s to be liked. Mouth (neat): great, really. Huge sweet malty, banana-ish, cake-y, honeyed and orangey profile. Very oily mouth feel. Nah, it’s great spirit. With water: indeed. Sweet malt, honey, maple syrup and artisan custard. Finish: long, thick, honeyed and barleyish. Comments: the kind of little bottle we should all buy when we come across them. Great whisky. SGP:651 - 90 points.

Let’s find a similar one… There:

Macallan 20 yo 1989/2009 (46%, Whisky-Doris, The Dram, bourbon barrel)

Mrs and Mr Debbeler always selected great whiskies. Colour: white wine. Nose: same style, with a fat, oily, beautifully barleyish style, some yellow flowers – and we cannot not think of sunflowers – and touches of oranges. This reminds me that in the olden days, we were very keen on ex-bourbon Macallan, because all the officials were sherried. A normal blogger would add ‘how time flies!’. End of the nostalgic sequence. With water: some butter cream, custard, even a little margarine… Mouth (neat): indeed, same style. Fattish, oily, very barleyish, slightly orangey, malty style. With water: chamomile, crème au beurre, custard, honey, very buttery cake… Finish: long, oily, as if you just downed a cup of sunflower oil with some honey thrown in. Comments: Macallan is a phat spirit. That was more evidence. SGP:551 - 88 points.

And another Germanic 1989 then…

Macallan 1989/2002 (43%, Strathblair Collection, Switzerland, sherry hogshead) No picture either! Colour: dark gold. Nose: something a little metallic, perhaps, on top of some raisins and sweet wine. Also oranges, hay, very sweet rum (Zacapa – ach, excuse me), and a little Virginia tobacco. Mouth: okay, raisiny and resinous, with marmalade, sweet tobacco, more raisins, a little fudge… Very good, of course, but with this style, balance has to be perfect. In this case, the tobacco’s a little too loud, IMHO. Finish: good length, but with a little too much rubber coming out. The aftertaste is frankly rubbery. Loses a lot of points here. Comments: it all started very well… SGP:561 - 76 points.

Macallan 19 yo 1987/2006 (52.4%, Duncan Taylor, Rare Auld, cask #9793, 306 bottles)

As you can see, we’re churning out the oldies that we’ve never had the opportunity to bring onto the tasting table. Colour: gold. Nose: smells of overripe apples and ‘old’ teas. Grandma’s cupboard, waxed tablecloth, cider… That’s not unpleasant. With water: indeed. Some honeydew. Mouth (neat): rather tight, honeyed and waxy, slightly cigarette-y, with a wee feeling of manzanilla. Good, let me tell you about the great manzanillas I’ve tasted in recent times, I’d advise you to try La Gitana’s En Rama and Pastrana, as well as Equipo Navazo’s 54 and La Goya XL En Rama. There, back to this Mac. Well, it’s quite good. With water: tobacco. Finish: good length. Oily tobacco extract and sappy honey. Comments: very okay. So, manzanilla, if you ever go to Sanlucar de Barrameda, do not forget to visit Bodega Hidalgo and ask for Rafael – on my behalf. Yeah, this little Mac was rather okay. SGP:551 - 80 points.

This session is becoming a little tiring. Okay, one recent official and we’re done.

Macallan 'Reflexion' (43%, OB, first-fill sherry hogshead, decanter, +/-2014)

All right, the kind of bottling that any true whisky geek will just hate. No age, a fancy decanter, low strength, an unneeded story, laudatory reports on the shadiest ‘luxury’ websites probably operated in Nigeria, and around 1,200.00 Euros a bottle. Codswallop that would make even a Kazakh millionaire laugh, if you ask me. Colour: dark amber. Nose: the first word that comes to my mind is ‘cognacqy’. In truth, this is cognac. Raisins, prunes, raisins, prunes, raisins, prunes, raisins, prunes, raisins, prunes… And one Mars bar. The most expensive Mars bar ever. Mouth: better. Sure it’s good whisky. Raisins, prunes, raisins, prunes… Yeah well! Touches of oranges, honey, oranges, honey, oranges, honey (S., that’ll do). And guess what, there is some malt in there. The body’s pretty okay. Ish. Finish: gets a little bitter, a tad too liquoricy, and oddly leafy. Strange aftertaste with burnt notes and quite some coffee. Comments: pretty average oldish malt – and malty – whisky. Forgot to mention marmalade, £1.29 for 340G at Tesco at time of writing. So it’s pretty good, but slightly boring NAS whisky in a fancy decanter. As ‘luxury’ as a necklace by Swarovski or a gold-plated pocket watch by Franklin Mint. Only my own humble opinion, of course. SGP:551 - 81 points.

Check the index of all Macallan I've tasted so far

Tasting indie Macallan plus yet another NAS

Tasting indie Macallan
plus yet another NAS