pkingmartin
Reviewed
November 26, 2022 (edited November 27, 2022)
To start off my Macallan series, I have a sample of their 12-year old Double Cask that was bottled at 40% ABV.
The nose starts with a mix of sautéed gooseberries, powdered ginger and mild sulfur then cocoa powder dusted prunes and toasted hazelnuts followed by sour apple, musty grapes and tangerine orange pith that transition to light baking spices and mildly bitter black tea with no ethanol burn.
The taste is a thin watery mouthfeel starting with a mix of golden raisins, powdered ginger and mild sulfur then a moderate bitter and sour spice that slowly fades to dark chocolate mocha and prunes followed by sour apple, nectarines and ruby red grapefruit that transition to light baking spices and mildly bitter black tea with no ethanol burn.
The finish is short with golden raisins, ruby red grapefruit, cocoa powder, ginger, moderate black pepper spice and bitter black tea.
Well, this series isn’t off to a great start as I find this to be an incredibly lackluster dram that the flavors are on the sour side with a moderate bitterness that likely struggles due to that low 40% ABV and comes across as a glass of watered down apple juice with some black pepper thrown in. Perhaps the version that is bottled at 43% would help intensify the flavors to be slightly bolder and richer, but I don’t have high confidence that a 3% bump would make a significant difference and instead will just move on towards the next sample.