Macallan Estate

This seems to be a standalone NAS, not part of the order NAS line or the current one. If it sounds like a random purchase, that’s because it was. I vaguely remember trying it a whiskey tasting and putting it on my list when this came out several years ago. Well, here it is. Nose: Classic Macallan. Milk chocolate and orange citrus. Vanilla, toffee, and butterscotch. There’s almost a molasses sweetness here. Pencil shaving and tangerine come in light I’m going in pretty much blind in terms of backstory with this one, but I’m getting plum, raisin, fig, date, and red grape that indicates sherry. That’s expect of Macallan, but I know they’ve gotten away from their standard formula in recent years. Apple, pear, and apricot in the background, along with some oak. Palate: Milk chocolate, orange and tangerine citrus, and vanilla once again. It’s like fruit and cake for dessert. The apple, pear, and apricot are more at the forefront of the palate. Honey, toffee, and malt. More plum, fig, date, raisin, and plum. A touch of honeydew. Finish: Milk chocolate, orange and tangerine citrus, and vanilla once again. Toffee, malt, and honey. Golden raisin, fig, date, and plum. Ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, black pepper, and oak. Moderate-long finish. This is a nice, easy-going whisky. It is a good representative of the Macallan profile during the “Edition series.” It drinks cleaner than any of them, and while it doesn’t pop in any one direction, is probably the most balanced Macallan I’ve ever had. Now, I have to consider VFM. Judged purely on quality, this is an undeniably solid malt. But when I consider I can get three bottles of some top-notch Scotch for what this one ran me, I’ve got to take that into account. At $275, this is perfectly pleasant, but doesn’t stand out in any way. 3.75/5. It’s a 4.0 star whisky if I didn’t know the cost. It really is very good. Something you’d like to pour into a decanter to impress people that are—worth impressing—if you do that sort of thing. And for the most part, it delivered. Cost hurts this. Yet, it is undoubtedly a fine representation of the Macallan flavor profile. I wouldn’t buy it again, but it’s certainly worth a go if you can snag yourself a pour. Cheers.

Just picked up my first ever Macallan to start collecting!

I’m always intrigued when a distillery decides to utilize a different barley in their production as it tends to produce slight variances outside of their traditional profile. Bruichladdich has conducted a few experiments with different barleys that yielded different results, some I found better than others and my favorite has been the farm to bottle Octomore’s X.3 editions where the barley is sourced from a single farm. So next up in my exploration through some of Macallan’s releases, I have a sample of their Estate which was made with barley grown on the Macallan estate and was bottled at 43% ABV. The nose starts with a mix of sour lemon, candied ginger and mild barnyard funk then cocoa powder dusted prunes, light minerality and toasted hazelnuts followed by mildly sour grapes, sautéed apples and orange zest that transition to light baking spices and mildly bitter black tea with low ethanol burn. The taste is a thin mouthfeel starting with sweet tropical fruits before a moderate bitter and sour spice that slowly fades sour lemon, candied ginger and charred hay bales then cocoa powder dusted prunes, espresso and toasted hazelnuts followed by pineapple, Granny Smith apple peel and orange zest that transition to light baking spices and mildly bitter black tea with low ethanol burn. The finish is short with sour grapes, mango, cocoa powder covered prunes, black pepper, ginger and mildly bitter black tea. For me, this seems like a youthful, thin spirit that turned out around average with a nose that is predominantly sour with a light farmyard funk and mild bitter tea that the taste improves slightly over the nose with sweet tropical fruits before a bitter sour spice overwhelms those fruits and veers towards the sour profile found on the nose and finishes rather sour with a light tropical fruit preventing it from being overwhelmingly along with mild bitter tea. At the cost of nearly $275 near me, this isn’t one I’d be interested in purchasing a full bottle of anytime soon and would be perfectly happy with many other lower cost options that I find to provide a better experience.