Paid $66 for this bottle. This is a bottle kill review. I will try to summarize what this bottle offered. Nose: Sultanas, other dried preserved fruits, and fresh dough. Quintessential Olorosso sherry. Try nosing some mid-tier Oloroso, and you can see where this Macallan is coming from, instantly. Palate: One note: sherry fruits. But it’s done classy. Very rich and mouthcoating; can handle some water. Not too sweet. Simplicity done right. Finish: A mild spiciness, wood bitterness, and char that I can’t decide if it adds to or detracts from all that sherry. $60+ is too much. Unfortunately, this is such a staple, I am loath to keep it stocked, but I will be looking for sub-60 price tags, which are around with a little searching. Pros: This is an easy choice for an introduction whisky for those folks who you can sense are the spectator type. And I don’t mind drinking this with them. It’s simple but delicious. Simply declicious. Cons: This is the introduction for a brand that I’m not sure is good for Scotch. On the one end, it is the leader for bringing single malts to the general public. And the recent diversification of expressions, across the board, is a boon that Macallan’s popularity helped create. On the other end, Macallan is promoting over-premiumization and brainwashing-marketing, which I hate. I have to keep giving it up for this expression, however, as long as it is pure Spanish oak. Mark: 83/100 (range 81-87. N = 4)