Macallan Edition No. 2

2017/12/25 - Mike and Judy - Xmas

$109

Very nice but a bit too round

Luxury brand collaborations make me nervous, really nervous. Too often, nothing good comes out of two luxury empires combining their prestige to sell a sub-standard product unworthy of both companies (see the Porsche, Aston Martin, Bentley, etc. crossovers with the mechanical wristwatch world). Macallan's Edition series therefore made me a bit apprehensive when I heard the concept. One of the finest scotch distilleries in the world, working with specialists from other disciplines (perfume, food), sounds promising to some, but I feared that the result would just be double the marketing and half the product quality. Happily, Edition No. 2, which is a collaboration between Macallan and the Spanish chefs behind one of the world's most renowned restaurants (Celler de Can Roca), actually lives up to the hype. The nose of this whisky is more captivating than Rare Cask, which is triple the price. I'm brought back to the ice cream shop where I worked after senior year of high school, with caramel ice cream sandwiched between some graham crackers. After a whiff or two, I'm also getting some chocolate syrup drizzled on top. There is a pleasant, rich oak presence throughout the nose, which acts as a frame for this well-integrated and harmonious bouquet. The sherry influence here doesn't produce the standard dark fruit flavors that one would expect, but instead exudes an alluring, almost bourbon-like richness. The palate features some of the best balance in a sherried whisky I've experienced: cherry syrup with a slightly medicinal tinge, complex fruit (some orange, some peach, some pear, some apple), and loads of aromatic wood and piquant wood spices. The 5% ABV jump between the Rare Cask and this expression also produces better mouthfeel, as Edition No. 2 is thick and substantial. The finish is not quite as long as I'd hope, so mark it down as this whisky's main flaw, but it's a good, creamy combination of sherry fruit, taro, and candied ginger. Although I'm not the biggest fan of the distillery as a whole, this is the best Macallan I've tried. This shows up online for under $100, where it is surprisingly good value, particularly relative to some of the stratospheric prices that Macallans can command.

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