The Macallan Cask Strength
Perhaps one of the most Iconic brands in Single Malt Whisky has been Macallan, A benchmark of quality, prestige and quality. Macallans have sold for horrific process at auctions. Their standard bottles are available all over the World in shops ranging from supermarkets to specialist bottle shops.
For as long as I care to remember, Macallan always was a feature in my Father’s liquor Cab as the special bottle reserved for the good friends and good times. Aside from Macallan there would always be a Glenlivet of some kind, probably a bottle of Jamesons as well. All of those brands I hold a spot my heart as special mostly because of Nostalgia, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Any time I see a Bottle of Macallan, of any expression I wonder to myself if it is as good as I think it ought to be. Most of the time, I am left with… disappointment.
Yeah, sorry to admit it but in many cases I find Macallan to be a bit of a let down, and I will quantify it because I think it seriously needs to be stated. This is not a knock on No Age Statement single malts, I am not so cut and dry to think that all NAS are unfair and controversial because I have tasted and reviewed several NAS bottles not only of Scotch but Irish and Canadian Whiskies. I will also state for the record that I do in fact prefer to know what is going on in my Whiskies, yes I want an age statement. Sadly we just seem to be drinking all the whisky and it’s making it difficult to keep that tradition going… but you know what… I don’t believe that for one second, I think that many companies are pulling the wool over our eyes a little bit. I don’t have anything to back that up, I just have a feeling. Remember, I’ve not got a damn thing to do with the Whisky industry, I just love drinking the stuff.
Years ago I attended an event in Halifax NS put on by the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission where a rep from Macallan came and showed us his wears from the new 1824 line. I was left somewhat underwhelmed. I believe it was the Sienna bottle (by believe I mean yes it was the Sienna) and I thought… this is nice… nice is about it. I had a bottle of the now unavailable and much missed 12YO sherry cask to which I also didn’t particularly love but thought it was very nice… I honestly bought it as a bottle for when my Father or Uncles came over to visit that I could offer them something that they would possibly be impressed by.
I also say 8 months later got a bottle of the 15 Fine Oak expression which I thought was pretty good, however as time went on I fell out of love with it and with Macallan in general. The reason being, price.
Macallan is in this blogger’s opinion (and not only mine) overpriced. Overpriced to the point that I just will not buy another bottle of Macallan again considering what I paid for each bottle I have had. Out of the 1824 range I have had every expression except for the Ruby at one point or the other and not a single one of them could I say to myself that I would pay money to own a bottle of it. In most cases the Whisky was good, not excellent. Certainly not worth over $100CA for anything above the lowest grade which I would say for me is the only one I would buy because for the price it isn’t a terrible buy, not a great by but not terrible.
I’ve noticed in my time on this earth that Macallan lovers are a loyal bunch, and I commend them with their brand loyalty to a certain extent, however for what they pay I just think they need to do some research to find their Speyside sherry monsters for half the price by looking to Glendronach or Glenfarclas.
And yes I’ve just realized I have pretty much done nothing but take a big bloggy dump on a historic Brand of Scotch Whisky. The point is that if Macallan has the ability to bottle amazing products… they should make the effort to do so with all their products and not produce sub standard products. If they tasted like a $140 bottle, then I would pay it. But if it tastes like a 70$ and you sell it for 140$ then I think there’s a huge problem.
I bought a bottle of Macallan Cask Strength for my Father years ago. Much to my disappointment I don’t believe he likes it very much, after all it’s bottled at %59 and I think that’s just too much for him to want to deal with. I happen to (SHOCK) like it. That being said, for the price I would have to pay now, I would rather buy a bottle of Glenfarclas 105… they are in the same wheelhouse of quality, and the 105 is nearly half the cost.
This needs time to settle down, extremely important here and a solid drop of water to take the edge off, otherwise it’s just pain.
Nose
Big nose. This is hot, young. Spices, nutmeg, slight smoke, dark chocolate, rum notes, fruit cake that you get at Christmas time, clove, black liquorice, cough drops, currents, raisins, brown sugar, toffy, slightly honey and some oaky notes, just faintly.
Taste
Full bodied, doesn’t hold back on the pallet, with big sherry notes, spiced dried fruits, cinnamon apple, brown sugar. Rum like notes of sweetness, bitter oaky notes, raisins, dark chocolate, cocoa, cola notes, ginger
Finish
Sweet but dry finish heavy on spicy sherry tannin, long and lingering with some burn from the high proof
I love full bodied and assertive Whiskies like Macallan’s cask strength as well as older OB of Macallan. I think in summary I just feel like saying that the new series of bottles are not bad Whiskies, they are all good. I think that for the Whisky lover on a budget, they are not worth the price if you look at what comes with some lesser priced but honestly better crafted Whiskies.
If you like Sherry heavy Drams, Macallan will fit the bill with a lot of their expressions. I think however that it will serve you better if you take a look at some other options, and I’m happy to discuss alternate options with you, just shoot me a message or comment below!
Happy dramming!
PS I am looking forward to the NSLC Celebrate Whisky event which has tickets going on sale tomorrow. Yes I am buying tickets to the whole shebang… I am not going to pass up a chance to snap a photo and share a drink with Richard Fucking Patterson
Canuck Whisky Lover 