Macallan 25 years 1997 - 2023 #12/4

Tasting notes by Serge Valentin (WhiskyFun.com) 93/100

The whisky is almost as dark as the label! Here is a brand new range from Signatory, very high-end, with some pretty extraordinary names like Laphroaig, Bowmore, and indeed, Macallan. The prices seem high, but I'm sure it's worth it and not just marketing hype. At least it's not another NAS with a fancy name and story, straight from ChatGPT or Wikipedia.

Colour: coffee.

Nose: a pretty wonderful dry sherry, full of Havana tobacco, prunes, dried dates, old walnuts, and hoisin sauce, with an extraordinary fermentary and even slightly acetic side (old balsamic vinegar). We're a bit in the territory of a very old Ténarèze, or of the best of the Macallan 'Gran Reserva' from back in the day. With water: it becomes rather more elegant, almost slightly austere, with a very "grand chocolate from a great house" side. I always find it amusing to hear my Swiss, Belgian, Italian, Spanish or French friends claim that they make the best chocolates in the world. What if it were the Scots, perhaps even Scots from Pitlochry?

Mouth (neat): creamy, goes down easily! Well, almost, there's still a lot of thickness, a syrupy texture, liquorice and pipe tobacco, a bit of tar, lots of dried prunes, Corinth raisins, precious molasses (if it existed), then peppermint and very chocolatey toffee... With water: it peacocks and goes fractal, with lots of spices, dried fruits, organic matter, and various old liqueurs. Alright, let's finish it, we don't have all day...

Finish: long as a day without bread and indeed, rather on very damp pumpernickel, chocolate, and competition fruitcake (we have the winner).

Comments: a real hit, after Signatory's sublime range of '30th Anniversary Bottlings' of three or five years ago. Come on, let's store it in its bottle for twenty more years to try to reach 95/100, then we'll talk about it again. What's sure is that this is Macallan as in 'Macallan', that is to say In compliance with what is written on the label of the bottle that follows...

SGP:661 - 93 points.

Macallan Distillery

Macallan Distillery ligt in de prachtige Speyside regio, nabij Craigellachie in Moray. Opgericht in 1824 door Alexander Reid, heeft Macallan zich ontwikkeld tot een van de meest prestigieuze namen in de wereld van Schotse whisky. De distilleerderij is gelegen op een schilderachtig landgoed van 390 hectare, met uitzicht op de rivier de Spey.

Een uniek kenmerk van Macallan is het gebruik van uitzonderlijke kwaliteit eikenhouten vaten voor de rijping, waaronder ex-sherryvaten van Europees en Amerikaans eiken. Deze vaten geven Macallan whisky’s hun karakteristieke rijke, volle smaakprofielen met tonen van gedroogd fruit, kruiden, chocolade, vanille en een specerijen. Macallan staat ook bekend om zijn brede scala aan limited editions, die door liefhebbers wereldwijd worden gewaardeerd.

De distilleerderij heeft in 2018 een state-of-the-art productiefaciliteit geopend, die moderne technieken combineert met traditionele vakmanschap. De combinatie van een prachtige ligging, hoogwaardige vaten en een toewijding aan kwaliteit maakt Macallan een toonaangevende naam in de wereld van Schotse single malt whisky.