LeeEvolved
Macallan Edition No. 4
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
December 30, 2018 (edited January 7, 2019)
It 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 2018 batch: Edition No. 4. It’s experiment is based on wood influence- primarily sherry cask (big shock that Macallan likes sherry wood). This one is dark, amber in the glass. Slightly watery while making skinny legs. It’s bottled at 48.4% and like all Macallan it’s non-chill filtered with no added color.
The nose is predictably sherry-forward: grape sweetness with ripe, red berries, lightly toasted nuts and honey-dipped apple slices. It’s pretty complex the longer you sit and smell it and it’s very inviting. Classic Macallan.
The palate is also sherry powered. There’s juicy citrus wedges, light vanilla with hints of harsh oak cutting through by mid sip. It’s not as oily on the mouthfeel as the Edition No. 3.
The finish is medium length and surprisingly peppery for a Mac. Harsher than expected wood notes sting the tongue and throat a bit too much for my liking, but it does leave sherry lingering well after the sip comes to a close.
Overall, this one is borderline classic Macallan. The added harshness isn’t expected or welcome. I can’t say I’d recommend this when you can easily save the extra $25-35 and have just as good of a time with the standard 12 year old or double cask. The sadder part is that my upcoming review of the Edition 3 reveals even more flaws in this series. I have an unopened bottle of No. 2 to still experience, but I won’t be paying a premium for the first release. 3.5 stars, max. Cheers.
100.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@Richard-ModernDrinking 2 has the better palette, and I think 3 has the better aroma. Surprisingly 1 sucks, but it’s going for hundreds of dollars. Shows taste and price are not a factor of each other
@LeeEvolved I think you’ll like #2
I have then series an am curious to see if any of these over time attain exorbitant prices. Rather disappointing to read that this and others fall flat. Great review as always.
Natural color...always NCF?...I think only in special cases. I’m fairly sure anything they put out that’s under 46% is chill filtered.
I didn’t like this much either. Not worth the $90 tag