Macallan Edition No. 2

Awesome sherry bomb, raisins, nutty. 95 points

It’s time to chronicle my experiences with some of these new Macallan NAS series: Editions. They have released a bottle of this every year since 2015. They are all experimental batches trying different blenders, wood types, etc. Prices have remained consistent on the retail market- about $90-100 for each batch. The secondary market has gone absolutely bonkers over Edition No. 1, though- with prices approaching $1000 for a bottle now. The clear answer to that is “No”. Let’s focus on the 2016 batch: Edition No. 2. This batch was influenced by a restaurantuer family that lay claim to being named the World’s Best Restaurant on two separate occasions. Damn. The Roca family. See the Edition No. 2 packaging for more info if that’s your thing. This whisky is a deep, sunset copper and bronze in the Glencairn. It’s oily and makes some thin, quickly running legs. It’s bottled at 48.2%. I paid $99 for this bottle a year or so ago. The nose is a rich, sherry bomb with a damp, funky and earthy wood note rounding things out. Those carry the nose for as long as you’d care to just sit and sniff it. There’s dried berries, orange wedges and zesty citrus if you really get down in there. It’s a wonderful combo. The palate grabs your attention quickly by blasting your tongue with some spicy ginger and black pepper. The sherry steps in on cue to cut the burn and remind you this is still Macallan through and through. It fades towards oranges and pears by mid sip before letting the back end grab your tastebuds again with strong oak and some vigorous abrasion. This is a first for probably any Mac I’ve tried to this point and I gotta say it was unexpected and quite incredible. The finish is long with typical sherry sweetness lingering while a very warm oak and chocolate note coat every corner and leaving the finale oily to the very end. Well, I gotta say, this was truly an amazing, experimental dram that takes Macallan out of their sherried, comfort zone- even if only briefly. I could get behind this type of release on a regular basis if the price point and consistency was there. 4.25-4.5 stars. I can still taste the ginger. Cheers my friends.

Tried this in a flight along with Glenfiddich Project XX, Strahmill 25 Year, This, Bruichladdich Black Art 5.1 1992 24 year, Tomatin 15 Year Moscatel Cask, and Springbank 20 Rum Cask. This ranked number 5 with a dark and rich toffee, nutty, dried fruit, and spicy profile.

Toffee notes with spice and brown sugar.