The Macallan Edition No. 2

Honey up front with floral notes moving to a wonderful rich sweetness with some spice and fire with a haunting citrus note at the finish.

I fully admit that I’m late to the game with regards to the Macallan Edition series, but better late than never, right? I’m sure everyone knows by now that the Edition series is an annual, experimental line from Macallan that was meant to push their own boundaries of cask blending, sometimes in collaboration with outside sources. Edition No. 2 was bottled at 48.2% ABV and is natural color of a dark amber/copper and from what I can gather is non chill filtered. This sample brought to you by the letter L, for @LeeEvolved Dark, thick and rich sherry on the nose. Sweet and savory. Caramel and toffee, chocolate and vanilla. Orange oil, chocolate oranges and sherried oak. Raisins, craisins, raspberries, prunes, plums, fruitcake. Apricots and figs, a bit of nutmeg and a hint of clove. Quite nutty, pecans mostly with some walnuts and a little almond. A touch of black cherries, more citrus/zest, caramel apples and light pears after some time in the glass. Slightly floral with honeysuckle and honey. Strange as it may sound I got some grape flavored hard candy and grape bubblegum as well. The palate is heavy with orange peel and oak up front with apricots and figs following quickly after. Tobacco, molasses, dark sherry and brown sugar. Some spice to it, but more of a wood spice than a pepper spice, though there is a bit of a pepper kick to it. Ginger, nutmeg, fruitcake or spice cake. Chocolate, vanilla, creamy, dark caramel. That weird grape candy taste showed up on the palate as well, but more of a Concord grape than candy. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is tongue coating and dry. The finish is medium long with orange peel, chocolate, wood spice, overripe pears, a bit tannic and very dry. Not the best Macallan I’ve ever had, but not the worst either. Honestly as far as Macallan goes, the retail price is not that bad for what you get at $90-100. Still more than it’s really worth in my opinion though. It’s a classic Macallan sherry profile with a couple curveballs thrown in there. I enjoyed it, but the overly dry mouthfeel and finish would keep me from coming back to this one. 4.25 Cheers

On the heels of underwhelming performances by the Macallan Editions 3 and 4, I turn to Edition 2 to save the show. Not that the former two were bad whiskies; it's just that they were not worth the hype or the $100 price of entry, let alone the absurd secondary market prices. Let's see if No. 2 can redeem the limited edition line. Nose: Orange, vanilla, milk chocolate, apple, apricot, toffee, and malt. White/green grape. Sherry notes of plum, poundcake, raisin, date, fig. Very little spice; maybe just a hint of baking spice. Nowhere near what I'd expect at 48.2%. Huge oak note. It's very clean and elegant, maybe just a bit restrained. A quality Macallan nose. Palate: Orange peel, apricot, and apple come through in a big way. More dry red fruits: raisin, date, fig. I get the milk chocolate and vanilla ice cream cake note I find in quality Macallan bottlings. Some cinnamon, black pepper, and ginger provide spice. There's also honey and toffee, some walnut and almond, and loads of oak. It's the standard Macallan profile done just right. Finish: Orange peel zest and ginger spice. Some more of milk chocolate/vanilla ice cream cake. A bit of coffee to wash it down now. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg provide a little kick to conclude what makes for a medium length finish. This is the clear winner of Editions 2,3, and 4. I'm giving it a 4.25, which, if I remember correctly, puts it a full star ahead of the other two in my book. Seems like this one was a tough act to follow. I put it up there with the 15 year Fine Oak as the best Mac releases at this price point. There are a lot of similarities between the two. Both relatively light, but very refined and elegant. Is it worth $100? Yes. Will you find it at that price? At this point, probably not. Collectors have scavenged these bottles; you can still find 3 and 4 pretty easily, and based on the results of my tastings, I don't think it's a coincidence. I lucked out and found this a few months back at retail price. They've since been cleaned out, as has every location I've checked out since. With that in mind, just buy the Mac 18. It's probably the same price as this one when you consider what the latter goes for on the secondary-market. Regardless, this is a great effort by Macallan. They pulled out all the stops here. So after a couple of highly critical reviews, I think I owe Macallan a retroactive "job well done" for this fine product.

향 : 너트류 프루티, 맛 : 너티, 월넛, 약간의 스모키, 쌉쌀, 짙은 쉐리, 피니쉬 : 너무 쓰지 않은 오키함, 너티함, 스파이시

Lovely nose with full sherry. Notes of caramel and some nuts. Oily, round and balanced in mouth with sherry at the beginning and which expands. Delicate but rather short finish

Lovely honey profile. Complex spices with a smooth chocolate finish.