Macallan Fine Oak 15 Year

This review has been transferred over from the Barreled App. I reviewed this way back in Sept of 2016: It seems like it's been a couple of months since I had a bottle of Macallan open. I finished the 10 year Fine Oak back in April/May of 2016 and immediately went out and bought the 15, 17 & 21 year versions because I enjoyed the youngest so much. I had to look back at my notes and reviews to see if I remembered any specific thoughts I wanted to compare with its older siblings. To be a triple oak barrel blend there is a surprising absence of wood on the nose. There's lots of sweet fruit and flowers with just a hint of oak and sherry cask. The oak waits until it rolls across your tongue, then it makes a big presence- vanilla and heavy spice. Just a tiny bit of raisiny sweetness before finishing pretty smooth like almost every Mac I've had. My notes lead me to believe the 15 is marginally better than the 10, and I wanna say the price point was only $20-30 more than the entry level of the fine oak series (the 15 was $70 IIRC). Unfortunately I don't have any 10 year laying around to do a proper side by side, but I'm pretty sure the 15 would win and be the one I'd recommend. I still have the 17 and 21 year on hand, so I think things are only gonna get better. I always recommend Macallan because they are the pinnacle of Highland/Speyside scotches IMO. Sadly, they know it and are almost always significantly more expensive than most of their neighbors. A lot of times though they really are worth it. This is easily a 4 star dram. Cheers.

So food, fruity bomb. Pear and apple, sweet creamy, Macallan spice