Malt Mission 2010 #383

The Macallan 18yo scotch whisky
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
43% abv
£72
$150 (USD)
$289.95 (CAD)

The Macallan is one of the most well-recognised malts in the world, and as such, often attracts a good deal of attention, both positive and negative.

The recent, and gradual, release/implementation of The Macallan Ice Ball Serve has been embraced by bars and accounts that can accommodate the item, envied in the pages of lifestyle magazines, websites, and blogs, and bitched about by almost everyone with a Glencairn glass, a MaltAdvocate and/or WhiskyMagazine subscription, and a QWERTY.

Just last week, on the back of a UK press release about "an innovative serving method expressly for those who like their whisky with ice," John Hansell threw the concept into the ring for the Malt Advocan'ts to have their way with. And they weren't gentle. 78 comments later, ranging from the pseudo-scientific, to the super silly, we are left with a bitter taste in our mouths. And it has nothing to do with the 100% sherry cask maturation.

There are really too many comments that demand address to cite here... I love that selling whisky is what the folks who sell whisky do best. Selling whisky is what got us to where we are today, with folks from Norway to Nagasaki to Newfoundland enjoying seemingly infinite amounts of fine single malts and being able to share their opinions about them online and at whisky fests and the like. The ideas presented to the contrary go beyond average connoisseur cyicism about marketing, beyond "back in my day..." nostalgia... Cowdery nailed it: check your hubris!

What, you've started a fricking Facebook page now? Hey, grab a dram and let's put whisky where your mouth is.

If you are enjoying a lovely single cask Mortlach, or a Clynelish, or a Brora, or any number of the 90+ single malts that most folks who want their Macallan served on a gorgeous sphere of ice have never heard of, please remember that if Johnnie Walker had not "conned consumers" with the seemingly corrupt aim of "selling more whisky", you would be drinking one of only 4 remaining distilleries in Scotland (and for good measure they'd be called The Smooth Sweeter One, The Rich Spicy One, The...)

I have no point that I am overly committed to here other than the general desire to urge connoisseurship to take a breath, top up their dram, and join me at camera 2.

Calm the fuck down.

For more Macallan distillery info, or to see all Macallans had on the Malt Mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Rich, assertive sherry impressions, layered with malty fudge notes, dates, raisins, and apple butter.

Apples, dry sherry, calvados, evolving into rich, toasty oak full of char, caramel, raisins, and candy floss. Nice bitter/dry/sweet balance through the finish.

SUMMARY:

Rich enough to make you feel the same. A very chewy and engaging classic malt. Full flavours that make big impressions with no apparent attempts at subtlety. (And holy shit, did you see the LCBO price for this?!!? Totalitario.)

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Malt Mission 2008 #318

Macallan 15yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
43% abv
£40
$124.95 (CAD)
$78(USD)

This is from the Fine Oak range of Macallans that are matured in refill, ex-bourbon, and some ex-sherry casks. Is that enough to justify the utterly obscene price at the LCBO (see above)? Wow. For a standard bottling? Seems nuts, but I guess those crazy Canucks buy it. I can think of a few other drops I might prefer for 125 bucks.

Reminds me of something I saw in an email from my friend Doug Stone at FORSCOTCHLOVERS.COM. He has partnered with Carol Iselin and Dave Sugar, the creative minds behind Inner Light Crystal Studios in New York, to create only 21 hand-carved bottles of Macallan Fine Oak 21yo. Now there is something that might be worth the spend. Take a look HERE.

Macallan, one of Speyside's most legendary distilleries is undergoing a bit of renovation. I was able to visit the Macallan distillery in August and see some of the construction they were doing to increase production, storage, and tour-ability of the site. A whole new process house is being created and, I imagine, will be the showroom of production so the tours needed walk so far into the plant (or so near the steel washbacks).

For more distillery info and to see all Macallans had on the Malt Mission, click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Oaky and spicy, waxy and woody. A carpentry shop with hard honeydew, white rind of watermelon, cinnamon, and quite lush with vanilla.

Buttered white toast, nutty oiliness, with toffee and bitter chocolate. Oak throughout, even a bit cardboardy. Great movement in the finish where the vanilla-ed oak blossoms and lingers for some time.

SUMMARY:

The nose is pleasant, oaky, and sweet but the alcohol is quite aggressive causing strong prickles with even shallow nosings. Square on the palate with distinct regions of flavour that give an overall rounded impression. But again, the alcohol tingles and this will be a challenging feature for many. Certainly improves with time in the glass and a few drops of water.

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Malt Mission 2008 #309

Macallan 1988 cask no. 8426
Duncan Taylor Rare Auld
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
53.3% abv
???PRICE???

Been a few days since my last post. Apologies. Was in Scotland earning the "Dr." in Dr. Whisky. Yes, that's right, I can call you Betty and Betty, you can call me Doc. As a result, next string of Malt Mission posts we'll be delving into the 'spency stuff to celebrate.

So we're back with another Macallan, this time a single cask from the good folks at Duncan Taylor. For other Duncan Taylor bottlings had on the mission, click HERE. For all Macallans, click HERE.

And if you see Mark at the pub in Dufftown, thank him for the sampler!

Tasted with TF. His notes appear in quotes.

TASTING NOTES:

Fruity, leathery, very sherried with a touch of smoke. "Very forward. Apples, varnish, brown sugar, I think also some rosehip and apple blossom." Perfumy? I find it musky, or like bad breath from a scolding school teacher. "Maybe. But sweeter. Toffee apple. Golden syrup." Sour cherries and dark melted chocolate. All in all a smokers car, 1984 Audi. With a lingering flatulence. Soggy tea biscuits, cardboard and a chocolate sundae.

Oaky and sherried with lots of candied character; ginger, raisins, licorice. "I'm getting the chocolate, sort of cocoa."

SUMMARY: Abv kicks, but it is the oak that grips. Lots of fun to chew on. "Its got a nice sweetness, cake spice, a sherryheads malt." Yeah, not subtle, but has what a sherry lover might be after with a lot of enjoyable and varied sweetness.

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Malt Mission 2008 #308

Macallan 12yo (two of them)
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
84.96(CAD)
$55 (USD)

When I was in Speyside this past April I could see the hillside above Craigallachie passively accepting the newly constructed Macallan warehouses in all their bright orangey glory. Sure, green or even blue might have been a wiser decision, but it seems they figure planting thousands of trees and waiting decades was a better solution. Now THAT is whisky logic.

I was able to visit The Macallan distillery last month, was told of their plans to build and expand and build and produce and build, walked past their steel washbacks, witnessed their famously small stills bubbling all the way up their short necks, experienced their "story of wood" sensory exhibit, and tasted a few of their products in the award winning visitor centre under the tutelage of some very friendly guides.

Described by Paul Pacult, the renowned international whisky writer, in his book Kindred Spirits as: "simply the best 12 Year Old single malt around", The Macallan has justly reaped such critical acclaim. But in the UK there is only the 10yo version of the sherried Macallan which suggests that Pacult should end his sentence with "...around these parts." So in markets where the 12 isn't available, I suppose some other whisky is the best? Anyways, let's taste.

Thanks to LC and KF for the drops.

Macallan 12 (1990s)

TASTING NOTES:

Big sherry, chocolate, and some orange. Oaky and slightly peppery. Dangerous to nose too deeply. Hot and funky. Fresh coconut, green apples, white grapes, waxy and cheesy like brie.

Soft and rich with oaky and sherried tones. Toasty and warming with some allspice and ginger. Heavily toasted almonds, nearly burnt pine nuts. Drying in time. Flavours sweeten in the finish but general feel remains dry.

SUMMARY:

Strange because there seems to be juvenile or undermatured spirit detectable under heavy and rich sherried tones. If this is your thing then you already know it is and nothing I say will have any effect on you.

Macallan 12 (2004)

TASTING NOTES:

Apricots and milk. Yogurt. Butter and peaches. Sweet and salty sherry, almost fishy. A little smoky or even tarry. Toffeed and quite inviting.

Initially sweet, then coal smoke weightiness. Very nutty, toasty character. Fish and yeast. Sherry. Oaky finish with a bit of that cheap butterscotch flavour like from an ice cream truck.

SUMMARY:

The more recent bottling had a harder impact but fuller flavour, if somewhat one dimensional. Both had a sour or cheesy or fishy organic note beneath all the sherry but it was certainly more prominent in the more recent bottling. Nonetheless, a classic Speysider that has worked hard to earn its place in the minds of malt lovers.

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Malt Mission 2008 #233

Macallan Fine Oak 10yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
£24
$59.45(CAD)
$40(USD)

Sorry for late post. Was in New York... for a night. Yes. Crazy, but whatever. It was fun. And necessary.

Naturally, I spent some of my free daytime hours cruising into a few liquor and book stores to see what they carried, prices, etc. In a book store there were several signed first editions of Kurt Vonnegut and Phillip Roth short stories as well as a first edition of MJ's Companion. Fascinating how THIN it was... how the whisky world has changed in less than 20 years! The liquor stores were a treat, too. I was totally blown away by how much the price could vary from one place to the next and by just how cheap some bottles were. It was amazing to see such large selections of quality bourbons and a great spread of incredible malts from the dirt cheap to the filthy expensive. I was then kicked firmly in the nuts when, having decided to hold off on any purchases until duty free, I saw the paltry display at DFA. I was shocked and amazed at how shit the selection was and how extortionate some of the pricing! A bottle of bourbon that I had seen earlier in the day for $24 was $38 at duty free!!! Litre or not, that is booooolsheeeeet. When street prices beat duty free prices you know you are in a wonderful country. America, putting the 'free' in 'freedom' and the 'doodie' in 'Duty Free'.

Today's whisky is from a line of Macallans that are not exclusively matured in ex-sherry casks like the 'standard' line. Launched in 2004, the Fine Oak range from Macallan is already #11 in top-selling single malts worldwide and has helped push Macallan into 6th position overall. Ken Grier at the Edrington Group says, "This has been the most successful new single malt launch from a major brand, ever." With 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 25 and 30 year old expressions, the happy customers are spoiled for choice. Proof that when the restaurant is a success, it sometimes pays off to extend the menu.

For all Macallans had on the mission and more distillery information click HERE.

TASTING NOTES:

Cake mix, vanilla, wheat-y, flour-y, gristy. Apricots, jam, butter and crumpets. Boller. Although I am hungry and craving some of the aromas I am picking up, I am convinced these tasty treats are not just imagined. Thus, my next descriptor is "appetizing." Burnt sugar, hazelnut, permanent marker.

Sweet but waxy, like kissing a woman (man?) wearing lipstick. Sweet bread, challah, brioche, rhubarb yogurt. Getting drier and more bitter, like sucking a wooden spoon. Waxiness remains.

SUMMARY:

I suppose unlike more sherried Macallans, this expression cannot hit the youth of the spirit. The gristy, almost yeasty impression indicated that on the nose and the type of sweet/bitter mixture in the mouth showed that a few more years would add unity and complexity to a pleasantly sweet, fruity, malty spirit. Good and clean whisky though with a nice youthful fruitiness. Reminds me a bit of An Cnoc, which I have not officially tasted for Dr. Whisky but has passed my lips on more than one occasion. This is a positive comparision for both whiskies, I think.

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Malt Mission 2007 #218

Macallan Elegancia 12 yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£28
$55(USD)

Elegancia. Hmm... what could it mean? Is it Scots? Gaelic? Nope; Spanish... naturally.

I can tell you that while the environment where I consumed this whisky provided fun and laughs, grace and dignity were almost nowhere to be found. Indeed, 'elegant' would be an ill-fitting descriptor for the DFDS boat from Copenhagen to Oslo, lovingly refered to as "Danskebåten" by Kristin and her friends, but it sure can be an arseload of fun.

With the sun rising over a frosty Norwegian fjord's shoreline we sat next to a starbord window in pleather chairs. Surrounded by bus-loads of blue-hairs, the cheesiest versions of jazz standards were squeezed from the bar speakers. Yes, we fell well below the average age, but this whisky made me feel at least 50% less out-of-place. I don't know what that means, but it did.

Launched in 2002, Macallan Elegancia is a Duty Free exclusive matured in ex-Fino and Oloroso sherry casks. My friend MC posted me some back in 2005 in plastic contact lens case. Gotta love him for the thought and creative method, but it did taste a bit like petroleum when it arrived.

For other Macallan's had on the mission click HERE

TASTING NOTES:

Lots of oak, apples and cinnamon, marmalade, breakfast cereal (corn flakes?). Malty, oaky sweetness. Almonds, oranges, chocolate ice cream.

Gentle impact, sweet before gripping with oak. Toasty sherry characteristics with dried fruits before crême brulée and leather glove flavours.

SUMMARY:

Elegant indeed. Lighter than the standard (as opposed to the Fine Oak) Macallan range, but it has a delicate richness... if that is possible. Great nose, soft, clean and tasty with a short-ish finish.

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Malt Mission 2007 #117

Macallan 10 yo
Speyside Single Malt Whisky
40% abv
£26.50

Kick-off on another Speyside themed week here on the Malt Mission where today and tomorrow will tick off two classic single malt whiskies we've not yet had.

This is the flagship Macallan bottling in the UK and beyond. It is a 12 year old in North American markets. This particular Macallan, and, as far as I can tell, all Macallans in the Sherry Oak range (as opposed to the Fine Oak range) are exclusively matured in sherry casks from Jerez, Spain. Many people believe Macallan is the best single malt in the world, among blenders it has been used as "top-dressing" for over a century, and it fights between Glenmorangie and Glen Grant for the third spot/bronze position in the worlwide top-selling malt lists, always figuring into the top 5.

Macallan famously has some of the smallest stills in Speyside, but with 21 of them, they are among the top 3 producers by volume (after Glenfiddich and Tomatin). As a result, their range of releases is absolutely enormous. Sherry casks are much more expensive to source than bourbon casks, so Macallan has had to buy their own new wood casks and have them seasoned at particular bodegas in Spain to ensure their ability to follow the Macallan's heavy sherry emphasis in maturating. The Fine Oak range released in 2004 alleviated some of this stress of supply, and offered the world a new and exciting range of Macallan expressions. Now both ranges are popular and critical successes in their own right.

And so with all these successes and indications of wise foresight in an industry that demands it (their timely expansion after going public in 1966-68, brilliant brand development, and clever cask allocation decisions since the 1980s), Macallan owners and others warn us that due to demand outstripping supply, the price of whisky will rise by 10% in the near future. That hurts. I guess once you've run out of premium releases you can still premiumise the whole industry. And if China is to affect the price whisky as it has oil, I say invade Scotland. And then Canada.

The last Macallans I tasted as a part of this mission were way back at Malt Mission #9 and Malt Mission #10.

Neil Peart, the madman of beats behind Geddy Lee's bass riffs and vocal screeches and Alex Lifeson's guitar wall of sound in Rush, is apparently big fan of Macallan.

TASTING NOTES:

Tight package on the nose. Chewing tobacco. Apple pie, smoke or hot oven, and less sherry dominance than I remember.

Oh, there's the sherry. But maltiness and ginger spiciness are present too as the sherry doesn't make things too soaked in dried fruitiness. Stewed rhubarb and champagne. A touch of smoke and a sort of mintiness through the finish.

SUMMARY:

A less overpowering sherry than I remember that allows subtle spice and smoke to seduce the drinker. Perhaps it could benefit from a slightly higher abv%, it does come off as a touch flat to my nose today, but with the current array of Macallan's available to the consumer, it's pointless to mess with what works.

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Malt Mission 2007 #10

Macallan 10yo Cask Strength
Single Malt Whisky
57.8% abv
£30(1L)

A perfect way to start a weekend, and an appropriate way to end the second week of this malt mission, a week that explored Dave Robertson and the Macallan.

As a final note for Robbo's influence at Macallan, he created the spider diagrams used by many people today to describe the taste "fingerprint" of whiskies(more info HERE).

This cask strength is the UK version, available exclusively at UK travel retail and duty free. There is an American version that has no age statement.

Below my notes are taken at bottled strength(57.8) and then at a reduced abv, after I "cut" the whisky by adding a touch of spring water.

TASTING NOTES:

(Full strength)First a bitter tickle in the nose that turns sour and then finally sweet. Very interesting. Vanilla, oak, marzinpan and chocolate. Crême brulee, candied almonds, maple, demerara sugar. Does not prickle the nose as it could at this strength. Still, breathe carefully...
(reduced) Chocolate cake, a French patisserie, strawberry essence, oranges, dust and the pages of old books, freshly stained wood. Hot or burnt hair, like the smell in a hair salon.

(Full strength)Dry wood, oaky, thick and pungent sherry influences of sweet dried fruits. Burnt sugar. Toasted chestnuts. Oak again. Long finish that is very warming, sweet, and woody.
(reduced) More pleasant in the mouth, but seems to yield less flavour. Still nutty, flavours of wood resin, sweet sherry, prunes and raisins. Perhaps a light peat whiff? Smoke for sure. Shorter finish. I would advise against cutting it, if your ulcer can handle it... Probably just depends on mood.

SUMMARY:

No messing about, this is Macallan. Sherry, fruit, oak in beautiful elegant balance. Many people complain that Macallan's sherry casks kill the 'whisky', ie. the barley spirit character. At times I might agree, but that doesnt make this malt a failure as a whisky. Really gorgeous wintery stuff. It is a real star, and if you have the opportunity to get it at travel retail or UK duty free shops, it would be just silly to fly without.

***btw***- if you find I am not nerdy enough or that my notes are too boring, or that I dont say "wood" as well as you would like, please see THIS

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Malt Mission 2007 #9

Macallan Fifties
Single Malt Whisky
50cl
40% abv
£25
$40(USD)

Why try to recreate malts from the past? Perhaps it is just an excuse for whisky makers to taste all the old bottles and sample every cask in the warehouse. The advantage at Macallan is that they have kept a museum-like archive of old bottlings providing the perfect historical reference point to conduct such an experiment.

One thing is known for certain, that Macallan from the 1920s to 1950s was quite different to the Macallan of today. This was because the Spanish Civil War and WWII affected the availability of sherry casks. Also, coal was expensive in decades leading up to and during the war causing distillers to use local fuels to dry barley, ie. peat. Macallan was in fact little like the sweet rich sherried whisky we know today, but rather a peaty and less sherried whisky.

David "Robbo" Robertson said, “What I would really like to do is to is to go back beyond the 1930s and find out if there were pockets of time where The Macallan was peated.”

Well that is the thought that inspired this series. And peat does appear at varied intensity, esp. in 30s and 40s. Try them all if you get a chance.

This particular expression is the last in the travel series (Twenties, Thirties, Fourties, Fifities). Let me also say that contrary to what many people might think when seeing these on shelves(I know I was guilty of this), these are not simple cash grabs, they are well made, delicious, critically acclaimed, and very interesting whiskies.

TASTING NOTES:

Very sweet, sherry sweetness. Burnt toast. Fresh grapes. A bit of rubber, leather, but sweetened by sherry characteristics: raisins, toffee, wine and oak. Raw green peas.

Syrupy and pleasant in the mouth. Like port or reduced balsamic vinegar(in terms of texture). Fermenting fruits. Tobacco and pipe smoke. Airy impression, perfumy effect of flavour while oily on the tongue. Finishes quite quickly actually, which suprised me. Finished big though, with flavours of cinnamon gum, licorice(sweets, not the root), bitter chocolate, brown rice that all comes in a single wave and then fades towards shore.

SUMMARY:

I wish I had every one in this series to try in this malt mission, they are really ALL very interesting, very well crafted, and would be great to try back to back. Excellent stuff. They are also appropriate to have after JMR whiskies because the skills Robbo applied and learned from in creating the Macallan Decades Series, he was able to bring to Jon, Mark, and Robbo's line. The 50cl idea might have been borrowed as well...

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