ScotchingHard
Macallan Rare Cask
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
July 28, 2017 (edited April 14, 2018)
This represents everything I hate about scotch, and I regret buying this bottle.
OBSERVATION: The stores that sell this for $300+, move this product, and sell out. The stores that are slashing prices still have 10 of these on the shelves. The price that got me to bite is $225. Macallan clearly appeals to those who feel the value of the liquid inside is affected by how much they spent on it. That is to say, the more you spend on this bottle, the better it will taste. Which is ridiculous. Secondly, fancy packaging is not welcomed. The rare cask is an eyesore, both in the information it provides and in the ridiculous 20 pound bottle. “Only 1% of the whiskies made the cut and were chosen for their color and depth of flavor…” STFU marketing prats. There are bad casks in here - it’s obvious. At $50, they aren’t bad casks, at $200+, and when you’re Macallan, these shouldn’t be present. The arrival is quality, but then there are sulphurous notes that aren’t intentional in the Macallan profile. It’s NAS because it probably contains substandard casks that are younger than 12 years.
WHAT I LIKED: It’s also obvious that there are good casks in here. This is better than the 12 year, for sure. Is it better than the similarly-priced 18 year? I don’t know about current bottlings because I haven’t tried them, but the arrival for the rare cask is reminiscent of the glory days of Macallan, when 18 year olds were vintaged, and I would sweat about paying $20-30 for a pour out of bottles that today cost over $1000. There is nutmeg, sultanas, and dark chocolate. Followed by red oranges, slightly burnt coffee. The spiciness is just right with hints of cloves and cracked peppercorn. There is a good deal of smokiness for a Macallan, not from peat, but from alligator staves.
VERDICT: There is quality present, but it is polluted by cheaper casks, which is almost as distracting as the baroque presentation. Stop inflating the price with visual appeal. Minus $50 for the bottle, minus $50 for the ridiculous marketing blurb… $125 is a reasonable price for this product. Call this buyer’s remorse, but HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN GET INSTEAD: Ardbeg Uigeadail and Aberlour A’bunadh are the twin pillars of value in the peated and sherried NAS world, respectively. You can buy both and still have change. If you want to stay within the Macallan house, you can buy both Edition No. 1 and No. 2. Number 2 happens to be the best Macallan I’ve had this decade, and I think is guaranteed to soar in value after bottles run out, similar to the vintage 18 year olds bottled in 1999-2007. If you want to try how Macallan 18 used to taste 10-15 years ago, get the Glendronach Parliament instead of Rare Cask. If you want to spend $100 more on a sherried whisky that, I’m afraid, is worth the ridiculous price tag: Balvenie TUN 1509 Batch 2.
MARK: 86/100. Yes, that’s a high mark, and is based on the quality of the liquid; but like I said, this is overpriced and I hate what it represents, so I’m going to give it 2 stars.
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Hi there! I've followed your advise and bought a Macallan ed.2 , an Uigeadail and an A'Bunadh with the same money I would spend on this one. Also bought the Parliament. Let's see... 😉
I like that rule of thumb. I've always used " if it's more than my car payment, it's too expensive"
Don't spend more than a day's earnings on a bottle is a good rule of thumb. It'll be a good while before I can get that low-end 10k bottle it looks like.
😀😁😂
That's 20 bottles ranging from $10k to $55k. Check it out online.
@Rick M, Now son, how do ya know that's not 19 bottles at $100 each and one bottle at $573,100. I'm just say'in. 😀
Total Wine in Vegas has 20 different bottles of Macallan worth a total of $575,000. That’s an average of $28,800 a bottle. Can it really be that good???
No prob Lee. To each his own. The empty bottle is about 20% of the production cost. They don't pretty up their 25 and 30 year this much because they don't need to. Macallan is just a once great distillery that has seriously lost its way since being distributed by Edrington. I just came back to the States from a duty free and the sheer number of ridiculous travel tail exclusive expressions are ridiculous. Only Johnny Walker is worse now in terms of trying to have people buy fluff over whisky
Sorry, I just re-read my response and I think it comes off as "preachy". I enjoy reading and contemplating everyone's opinions, though. I need a drink.
I appreciate your review even though I tend to disagree. It is one of the finest whiskies that Macallan produces. It is velvety smooth and there's a ton of quality in that bottle. Is the packaging and PR campaign ridiculously unnecessary? yes. I just feel like what you really are paying for is the master distiller/blend expert spending countless hours tasting each barrel and singling out the best of the best, correctly blending said bottles and offering you what they consider the best juice they can put in that 20lb glass container. The fact there's a lower quantity of casks to choose from, the time and energy spent identifying and blending in the best ones, the packaging (while somewhat over the top) all come into play when setting the steep price. It's a ton of money, but I feel it's even better than the 18. At $225+ for a bottle, it's not something I can keep stocked in my bar, but I'm damn happy I ponied up for one and look forward to the day I can afford another. I would put Rare Cask up against any other sherried scotch, whether it be $80 or $500. It will hold its own. If you want to complain about the price point that's one thing, but giving it a 2-star rating because you don't feel like you should have to pay a premium for it is bad form. Save those ratings for $400 bottles that actually taste like swill. This is all just my $0.02, though. That said, I still enjoyed reading this and many other of your reviews. Hopefully, your next big ticket purchase makes the grade. Cheers, sir.
Spot-on analysis.
Well... If you lived in Montreal, I'd buy it off you.
Couldn't have said it better myself sir. Amen on Parliament and Tun.
Come to Sweden, I have a few bottles of GlenDronach 15 yo Revival tucked away. You bring the cigars.
Yamakazi 18. I hear prices for those are now given in scientific notation.
A'bunadh... "sherry bomb" is a term that gets thrown around way too often. The old mac 18 was a refined sherry bomb: nutmeg and chocolate-coated sultanas. The a'bunadh is a young sherry bomb: chillies and cherries. I agree it's not for everyone.
Glendronach revival was so good! Definitely the best I've tried from them, but alas, they're gone and I was never able to find a bottle on the shelves.
Excellent review!! I fully concur. Macallan is more of a luxury gift item than a connoisseur's dram. I bought this when it first came out two years at $400 (yes...bad mistake). I liked it, but I also thought I could've done better at the time by buying two Yamazaki 18s or saved $100 and bought a Balvenie tun 1409. Unfortunately, both are now way above $500 though)
I like the A'bunadh but prefer the GlenDronach 15 yo revival, slightly more smoky flavor. Then again I like almost anything from Glendronach. 😀
Also I didn't even really like A'bunadh, so I'm guessing this scotch would be an even more bitter disappointment to me with price factored in :)
Really great review. I think some, particularly pro reviewers who want the free sample train to continue, are scared to write these sorts of opinions up. There's also an emperors new clothes problem where people try a really expensive product and get scared to say they don't like it -- what if that means they just don't have a refined palate? Always nice to hear someone unafraid to voice a contrarian opinion. Reading this makes me wonder whether it's even worth trying current Macallan 18. I wasn't swimming in these waters during the distillery's heyday, if 99-07 was their peak.
Excellent review and brings out some of the glaring problems in today's whisky market.