Macallan Enigma

Oak forward but lots of sherry. Smooth finish. Lots of wood.

The fourth release of The Macallan's Quest Collection, Enigma is one fancy dram. I have to say that i wasn't impressed with the other 3 expressions of this travel retail series, (Quest, Lumina and Terra); but i really think this is the best of the whole range. Entirely matured in european sherry seasoned casks, bottled at 44.9%abv, with a beautiful reddish, chesnut color. On the nose, absolute perfection. Lovely aroma of dates and dehydrated fruits, chocolate bathed raisins, cherry syrup, hazelnut and waffer. Ginger and spices, very winey. Very fancy, after 3 minutes a very herbal note has overpowered the rest of the notes. Sawdust, even some citric appeared: lemon. A second sip gave me almonds. On the palate, it is very smooth, easy drinkable but a little simple. Sawdust, vanilla, red fruits. You can hold it forever. Some mild cinnamon and ginger spices rise after 10 seconds holding it in the palate. Aftertaste is a little bitter. It has a woody profile: oak and sawdust. Ginger. Medium long. Not too complex. Overall, i believe this is a very enjoyable whisky, but it is far from being a fantastic dram, and the reason is that it has this spectacular aroma, out of this world, and then the palate and aftertaste is very normal. It is very smooth, but simple, it has an interesting bitterness that not everyone will love. The box of the whisky shows a tree that has been cut, and it actually is pretty woody. The sherriness is shown mostly in the nose. My score for this single malt is 89 over 100, and that shows you how unbalanced it really is, since it got a perfect score in the nose that wasn't matched by the rest of the criterias.

Long and complex aftertaste, nuts, wood, slight sweetness and more.

Smooth as expected... The 44,9 does alot for the taste, really nice

Rich, full-bodied Tart, palate with dried fruits. languishing -81