
February 8, 2017

A short study of The Macallan

Macallan, former Grand Cru of malt whisky, has lost the interest of many a whisky enthusiast, while gaining, I’m sure, much more traction amongst the wealthy unlearned. They’ve totally become ‘a brand’, while many other distilleries have remained, well, distilleries. Probably a very smart move financially, after all there are very few genuine whisky enthusiasts like you and me out there, and we already own more whisky than we can drink anyway, don’t we. Now, some recent moves, such as the re-introduction of some age-stated young whiskies, may change all that again. Let’s see… And let’s start all this with a newer bottling of the often criticized - not by me - ‘Gold’, as a benchmark…

Macallan ‘Gold’ (40%, OB, +/-2016)

From the infamous no-age-statement ‘1824 Series’. To be honest, when we first tried it in 2012, we had though it was more than okay (WF 81). Colour: light gold. Nose: it really is very okay, vanilla-ed, malty, and fruity (plums, oranges and citrons). I wouldn’t say there’s a lot to add, except that it tends to become a little earthier, with touches of moist old wood, which is certainly not un-nice. All in all, a nice freshness. Mouth: perhaps a little weak and short, because of the low strength, which makes it frustrating, especially since the profile is most pleasant, fresh, citrusy, and even kind of joyous. Really like these notes of Fruit Loops and jelly babies, candied angelica, and dried apple rings… Really, too bad it’s a little, say disembodied. Finish: very short. Did we just have whisky? Comments: I don’t know if they’re going to keep this expression, but if they do, they should up their game and switch to 43 or 44% vol. I think the juice itself is very nice, hence my good score. SGP:541 - 80 points.

Macallan 12 yo ‘Double Cask’ (40%, OB, +/-2016)

Ha, double casks! That’s nothing when you already have ‘four oaks’ elsewhere (Laphroaig). But is all that only silicone for whisky? Let’s see… Oh and this has been aged in ‘a combination of American oak and ex-sherry casks’. Very vague, I’d say, but as they say in Washington, it’s only the result that counts. Let’s see… Colour: gold. Nose: to be honest, I liked the freshness of the ‘Gold’ a little better. This one’s nice as well, but it’s a little more, yeah, vague, with wee leafy smells, some kinds of dusty nuts, and this feeling of old books that can be brilliant… Or not. Some burnt sugar too, toasts… Mouth: once again, it’s the low strength that makes it a little too flabby and frustrating. There’s some cinnamon and nutmeg, as well as walnuts, but it feels bizarrely empty, there isn’t enough fruity kick to support those dry spicy notes. Finish: very short and quite dry. As if we’ve just had black tea that we had sweetened with aspartame. Comments: I’m disappointed. I was so glad they had added a proper age statement! But between us and frankly, 40% have now totally gotten passé. Like red wine at 11.5%, you know… SGP:341 - 74 points.

Macallan 12 yo ‘Sherry’ (40%, OB, +/-2016)

40% again, I’m afraid, so no high hopes. We used to have the older 12 sherry from the late 1990s at +/-84 points (but they were still bottling it at 43%), the newer ones from the early to mid 2000s at +/-80… Let’s see what will happen now. Colour: bronze gold. Nose: sure it’s not big, but it is rather nice, despite a few disturbing whiffs of pencil shavings. Large-brand chocolate, brownies, garden peat (and other earthy things), dried porcinis… Sadly, it really fades away after just two minutes, to the point where I’m thinking I should have used an amplifying glass instead of my faithful tulip glass. Goodbye! Mouth: ah, more power now, at least for a while. More oomph and flavours than in the Double Cask, cloves, marmalade, chocolate cake, pecan pie… But then, again, it tends to become thin. What’s nicer is that oranges remain there. Finish: short and thin, but not as evanescent as the humble Double Cask. Orange cake covered with chocolate. Comments: lovely whisky, very very lovely whisky. It’s just a crying shame that it’s this thin. Next time I think I’m going to add a few drops of surgical spirit at 90%. Wouldn’t that work? SGP:451 - 81 points.

More power please… let us look to the indies!...

Macallan 25 yo 1991/2016 (51.1%, Douglas Laing, Xtra Old Particular, refill hogshead, cask #11489, 231 bottles)

Colour: straw. Nose: a proper age, a very ‘refill’ cask according to the colour, and so a neater expression of the distillery. That is to say rather fat fruits, around bananas and small pineapples (some American oak still at play, perhaps), williams pears, late-season apples, and unexpected hints of bubblegum and marshmallows. Mind you, this is still ‘young’. With water: whiffs of fresh mushrooms and moss, always nice. Mouth (neat): bags of playful assorted fruits, jellies, jams, and sweets. The distillate makes me think of Aberlour (unsherried), with this ueberfruitiness that works so well. Lovely hints of Japanese macha, orange blossom water, pineapples again… It really is playful. With water: our beloved fruit salad topped with barley syrup. Finish: medium, fresh, fruity, are rather more cerealy than expected. Comments: I’m not sure, would someone have asked me how old this baby was, that I would have answered ‘25’. More like 12 or 15, but it’s extremely good. Macallan totally au naturel, baby. SGP:641 - 88 points.

Don’t we have room for a last one? One that should rock our boat?...

Macallan-Glenlivet ‘As We Get It’ (57.3%, J.G. Thomson & Co., 75cl, +/-1975?)

We’ve already tried many wonders in this series. Sadly there aren’t many details to be obtained, but our hopes are deep. Colour: gold. No heavy sherry, I suppose. Nose: what what what? This is e-xac-tly the same nose as that of the Douglas Laing, aroma for aroma. Perhaps just a tiny wee touch of vanilla missing in this one, but that is all. Amazing – and no, I did not muddle up my glasses. With water: last week’s cut grass and freshly squeezed orange juice. Mouth (neat): ho ho ho… Small berries and the eaux-de-vie distilled thereof, this is as close to some ‘pure’ distillate as you could get. In other words, the cask seems to have filtered out the unwanted molecules – which is one of his duties, as you know – but it did not impart any additional flavours. Not one. The end result is pretty brilliant, albeit a little simple, on barley water, melons, ripe apples, cherries, and lemongrass. Wheelbarrowloads of lemongrass. With water: same, just the same. Perhaps a notch more on sweet barley notes. Finish: only medium, but so perfectly barley-ish that you would start to declaim poetry. No, not obligatorily Robert Burns. Comments: good, it’s probably not one of the most majestic ‘As-We-Get-Its’, but while it’s certainly much younger, we’re only one point below the rather superb XOP. SGP:541 - 87 points.

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