Macallan Double Cask 12 Year

This is an unusual expression, and swims against the grain of Macallan's recent impulse to release highly priced, no-age-statement expressions. Double Cask is an experiment in aging, as the distillery acquired new American oak casks, seasoned them in sherry, and then used them for the bulk of this product. In some sense, it means they're using the sherry to age the casks rather than the other way around, and the result is casks that didn't spend as much time with the wine in them and that impart a milder flavor to the whisky that's later dumped in them. That's exactly what we get here. On the nose, there are notes more typical of a bourbon-aged or half-and-half whisky: vanilla, caramel, cream, oak, and mild sherry fruits and baking spices. The palate emphasizes the core malt flavor, which comes through best with ex-bourbon-cask aging, and almost tastes like a blend in its mixture of half-expressed flavors: some fruit, some honey, some spiced tea. Double Cask finishes on notes of malt and sweet cereal grains, along with some oaky barrel char. This comes in at a similar $65-70 price to Macallan 12, but I'd opt for the original.

The regular 12 year is better. Too much oak coming through for my liking

The nose on this gets me excited for a sweet oak palate. Specifics are hard to pin but I get things like caramel, tart dark fruits, dusty oak with a metallic brightness. Onto the palate, however... initial impressions were not favorable. It feels empty and hot, with way more bitter wood in the taste than anything else. I still don’t care for this neat. Water or ice makes it much more bearable, though still not redeemably so in my opinion. I taste chocolate and caramel accompanying rich notes of some tropical fruit like papaya, which segues into the bitter, spicy oak wood. I suspect it’s my palate’s preferences, but I would much rather prefer the vanilla Macallan to this expression. Especially at this price.

En syrligt maltig ton, därefter överjästa nyanser. Som av övermoget äpple, hö och sirap.