MACALLAN 1989 31YO - CADENHEAD SHOP RELEASE 2020

Every year, these past few years, indie bottler Cadenheads has released bottlings chosen for each of their UK and Continental retail shops - and 2020 was no different - even with the Corona still raging...

The bottlings for released in Dec 2020 were:

Benriach 2010, 10yo
Bunnahabhain 2013, 7yo

Glenallachie 2007, 12yo

Glenburgie 2010, 10yo

Glendronach 1990, 30yo

Glenfarclas 2003, 17yo

Highland Park 1992, 28yo

Miltonduff 2008, 12yo

Macallan 1989, 31yo

Below, I'll pass on my initial impressions on the latter Macallan and I will also be slapping an initial score on it, but it will not get a full-on review with extensive notes due to the sample size. 

Visiting in September 2019, a period where the distillery should be packed with visitors, the ones there were what also the ones I feared fiding there...
Most visitors were from markets that see Macallan more like a luxury brand rather than a whisky.

Also, the decline in cask quality over the years are now showing.
The fabled old sulphur-free sherry casks of yesteryear are gone and I find that the new style, slightly sour sherry cask style/note that I also find in Highland Park has crept into Macallan. This makes perfect sense really, as Highland Park and Macallan are owned by the same parent company, Edrington and cask source is the same.

This bottling, however, comes from an ex-bourbon barrel, so we'll not be dealing with sherry off-notes here - and yes, Macallan does mature some of their spirit in ex-bourbon casks as opposed to general belief. This claim is also made by other distilleries that matures their whisky in sherry casks, but this is purely a marketing scheme.

This though is still not a guarantee of good wood as even bourbon casks go bad or infuse too much wood into the spirit. This being a Cadenhead bottling though, I do not expect this to be the case...

The small Macallan sample tasted below was made at the old Macallan distillery and not at the new shiny one pictured below. However impressive the new Macallan is, however carbon-neutral or 'green' they are its sadly also a monument over what the brand has become.

Let's try it

The new Macallan Distillery, September 17th 2019 © The Malt Desk

Macallan 1989 31yo 45,3%, ex-bourbon barrel, 108 bottles - Selected by the Cadenhead Odense Shop

Nose:

Loads of cask spices, a hint of resin, and pleasant vanilla and malt notes
Do I even detect a hint of ginger and hops in here?

Taste:

Good arrival with vanilla, juicy garden fruits, and a finish very much on crisp malt and oak in a good but not overly measure.

89/100!

Thanks to my friend JGJ for the sample

MACALLAN 1989 25YO - CADENHEAD AUTHENTIC COLLECTION

Much have been said about The Macallan amongst whisky anoraks over the past years...

First there was the launch of the Fine Oak series, which give us a look at what Macallan tastes like when you mix ex-bourbon and sherry casks. Back then there was an outcry and comments like 'its not The Macallan style' and 'You've ruined Macallan' were uttered. Still, you could get your usual sherry matured age statement Macallans along with your Fine Oaks, only that was about to change as well with the arrival of the Macallan 1824-series in 2013. Gone were the low end age statements and instead we saw the introduction of the 'Gold', 'Amber', 'Sienna' and 'Ruby' and again the uproar was there...

Now, as a whisky anorak I understand this... even if the 'Sienna' and 'Ruby' are good whiskies and the ones worth pursuing in the 1824-series, they are somewhat overpriced... but hey, what whisky isn't overpriced these days or on its way to be? More importantly - we need disclosure - whats in the bottle? if its only 7 years old, tell us so we can make an informed decision on whether we want to spend out hard earned money on what's being offered or if we want to go elsewhere.Now, I know got a bit off topic here, but those following my blog will know that this is an issue I care about *end of rant*

But what about Macallan from bourbon cask, like the ones that went into their Fine Oak series? Well, they're (so far) only available from the independent bottlers... but its my experience that it can work just fine. Macallan actually have a very good base spirit, that, that works just fine if the cask makeup is all right and a little age is added to it. You are, of course, not getting your usual expected sherried style of Macallans, but who says that bad if the cask is good?

This one from Cadenheads is a great example of just that...

Macallan old section - stillhouse no. 1 just visible to the left, June 12th 2013, © The Malt Desk

Macallan 1989 (xx.xx.1989/xx.10.2014) 25yo 51,4%, ex-bourbon barrel, Cadenhead Authentic Collection

Colour is golden

Nose:
Thick malt, a handful vanilla, some laid back citrus and a slight flora note. I also find a little warm apple pie in here. After a while, what I can only describe as gingery notes peeps through. There's white chocolate and a honeyed creaminess to go with that as well. The alcohol never gets invasive but instead delivers the above notes beautifully.

Taste:
Incredibly mouth filling with big waves of malt, oranges, vanilla custard and a little toffee. There's a red berry notes in here as well, more apple, hints of pineapple, fresh toast and birthday cake base. Mid to end palate really shows how good a malt spirit this is, as it gets incredibly smooth and the malts just keeps rushing in all the way to the end.

This is great stuff!

89/100!

MACALLAN 1990 - BLACKADDER RAW CASK

Much have been said about the current style of Macallan - the Gold, Amber, Sienna and Ruby...

Statements like 'a shadow of it self...' 'thin and without heart...' and 'Where has my Macallan gone?' has been seen posted on social media but if you look at it from the average whisky drinkers point of view, this is probably still good whisky, right? Well, we're all at different places on our whisky journey and the many people drinking these new expressions will most likely not know (or even care) what older versions tasted like and are also most likely not prepared to put down the money to find out... and for that reason these NAS expressions will probably live on - sadly!

Don't get me wrong, they're fine for the businessman rushing through the airport while wanting to pick up something with a popular brand name on, but they're no longer enough for the malt anorak with lots of malt mileage under his belt - then again, the anoraks are not where the turnover is to be found, volume sales is generated by an entirely different customer base...

Here and there, however, are bottles of Macallan tucked away under staircases and in cupboards, like at the place of a very good whisky friend of mine... Recently he brought out a heavily sherried Macallan to enjoy with friends as it should be... 

Macallan fishing hut on the distillery beat on the Spey River, June 13th 2013 © The Malt Desk

Macallan 1990 14yo (13.02.1990/xx.06.2004) 59,8%, sherry butt#2643, 201 bottles, Blackadder

Colour is mahogany

Nose:
Starts big and somewhat dirty with some matchstick sulphur.
Wet tobacco leaves, very ashy and earthy, leather, prunes, reduced balsamico, dark chocolate and a well sized alcohol attack on the nose.

Taste:
Big and meaty! this could be a Mortlach! There's certainly a Mortlach style sulphury edge to it. The alcohol delivers a huge punch and the whole thing seems a bit hot to begin with, but time will calm this down a bit.

There's that leather again, notes of earthiness and mushrooms and burnt coffee - very closed in fact! A little water brings out some expected dark fruit notes, overripe oranges, black pepper. Even with water this show a distinct and not that well integrated oaky side.

A big brute of a Macallan! Much of it because of its high alcohol strength...

86/100!

Thanks to JBH for the big dram and sample!

MACALLAN 1985 24.128 'POSH LADIES ON THE PROM' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

This distillery needs no introduction, so I'm not going to bore you with one.... and instead of a rant about the 1824-series and the descision Macallan to remove the age statement from its core range, let's have a look at what Macallan actually will do for the area around the village of Craigellachie when the huge expansion of the distillery is taking place.

Due for opening in Spring 2017, the expansion of The Macallan distillery will see its production heading very much in a green direction with a bio mass plant in Craigellachie producing of the steam energy needed on site from bio fuel sourced from forests locally. Not an entire new idea as Ardnamurchan GlenBeg Distillery started doing this already this year, but its going to be on much large scale in Speyside.

Here are a few facts released so far:

• Up to 90% of the energy need for production will be produced at the new plant
• 120+ new jobs will be created temporarily as a result of the expansion
• New jobs will be created on site too after the expansion is completed
• 20.000 homes is said to be supplied with energy as well
• Changing from natural gas to bio fuel will save as much energy as taking the equivalent of 18.000 cars of the road

Source: The Spirits Business

But let's return to the whisky... a Macallan distilled almost 30 years ago...

Easter Elchies House at Macallan Distillery, after midnight on June 13th 2013 © The Malt Desk

Macallan 1985 29yo 24.128 (25.04.1985) 'Posh ladies on the prom!' 51,1%, Refill ex-bourbon hogshead, 209 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is full straw

Nose:
Very concentrated of thick malt, vanilla, ginger, floral/perfumy, slightly soapy notes (in a good way!) Tangerines, honey, wax and carries overall a lovely balance oak profile thats not at all invasive at 51,1%. The nose turn more fruity as we go along, mainly on heavy banana, apple and nectarines and thick, almost ale-like maltiness

Taste:
2 soft seconds on arrival, then a hot and oaky attack which can be remedied by a few drops of water. When those are added sweet oranges, Haribo apricot winegums and raspberry meringue is immediately revealed to your palate. Also some sweet cookie dough in there.

This goes into über fruity overdrive if you give it time and a few drops of water... but it also doesn't go all over the place or displays huge complexity. It instead shows a more narrow (and very good!) profile and carries much of the same tropical fruitiness as Edrington's Orkney distillery Highland Park when matured for a long time on an ex-bourbon cask... minus the added smoky profile of the Highland Park, though :)

Nice dram indeed, but the initial hot attack on the palate makes this one come in a couple of points short...
and as you might imagine, being Macallan, this carries quite a heft price tag... £400 in the UK and around £300 in Denmark

87/100!

MACALLAN 1997 - ADELPHI

Tonight, I just read that the next Macallan Easter Elchies House bottling was released today. A single cask 17 years of age and at cask strength of 55,3% abv. A 170 bottles was released from cask#26 of where a total 340 bottles were drawn. The remaining bottles go on sale in December... Price £185 and sold only at the distillery visitors centre. Besides the price, the even more crazy part is that people had been lining up since 5am Sunday morning to get their hands on this.


The Macallan Easter Elchies bottling Nov 2013 - thanks to Shaun King for letting me use the picuture

Is this what whisky has become? a thing to line up for at crazy hours in the morning to make some money? if it is, its just sad, sad, sad... I know these Easter Elchies bottlings are quite sought after, but this is getting down right ridiculous. Have some people become so far stretched economically that they are willing to line up and freeze for several hours for a chance to double their money? There were even stories of people driving up to Speyside from Edinburgh to get a bottle!!

I'm betting close to NONE of these bottles will ever be opened. Whisky investing and hoarding like this is, IMO, an insult to the guys that make the whisky and its becoming a significant dark side of the whisky market these days.

I wonder when the whisky bubble will burst? Is it when the 'Tiger'-economies in the Far East, especially China slows down? or Russia slows? Brazil maybe? But if we take a look at the investments being made by the whisky industry now and their plans for coming years, it doesn't seem that they're worried about a slow down.

Now, I'm certainly no market strategist, but when making investments of billions of UK £, banks and shareholders will certainly be wanting them back along with a big fat return. It's a business and this is how we've chosen to live (most of us, anyway)... but there is a long way from lining up at 5am in the morning to get a single bottle to provide the worlds population with drinks (as it's not only whisky many of these companies are selling). Someone has placed alot of trust in demographic and marketing experts to make sure their capacity will still make up for demand. And even if the bubble should burst and you are down to maintaining or even losing existing customers and not getting new ones, there's only us customers to pay for those investments and current demand, resulting in higher prices for us.

I'll not bore you much longer with this, but I am, as I've mentioned in other posts before, aware that distilleries are businesses and not philanthropy or pet project of a crazed billionaire - it's about cool cash... I just hope cool cash doesn't blur the picture too much for either the people in the line to get an Easter Elchies bottling or the people in the corporate board rooms.

Anyway, I know you're here for the whisky so let me review another Macallan for you - not the Easter Elchies one (though I would like to that that ;-) )

Easter Elchies House at Macallan - June 13th 2013 © The Malt Desk

Macallan 1997 14yo 51,6%, Sherry hogshead#1046, 216 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is mahogany

Nose:
Chocolate, nutmeg, hint of oriental spices and orange peel, prunes and burnt sugar

Taste:
Creamy/Oily on arrival, a streak of sulphur (matches), amaretto, strong coffee, orange infused chocolates and polished leather. Sadly it gets a tad too bitter and drying for me on the finish

I was looking forward to this one as I counted on a good pick from Adelphi and with that a trip down memory lane to the likes of the Cask Strength Macallan from a few years back. Sadly it never got much further than out the driveway and certainly not down memory lane. Guess my expectations was too high :-/

82/100!

MACALLAN 1824-SERIES PRESENTATION AT EASTER ELCHIES

It's been a few years since I toured The Macallan distillery, though I've been on its grounds several times recently -actually as late as a month ago during the Spririt of Speyside Festival- to enjoy its amazing view towards the Spey river and Easter Elchies house and soak up the distillery atmosphere.

Easter Elchies House, Evening of 12th June 2013,  © The Malt Desk

But a tour of the place? Wow, its been more than a good while since I'd not come in through the new tour entrance which leads into the mash tun area in 2nd production area which was recommissioned in 2008 when demand started to sore. It then leads through to the washbacks and stillhouse of the 2nd production area as well, making the distillery look alot smaller than it really is, that is if you don't spot the 1st and very large production area when exiting stillhouse 2.

Macallan old section - stillhouse no. 1 just visible to the left, 12th June 2013, © The Malt Desk

New entrance for the start of the tour, June 12th 2013, © The Malt Desk

This new entrance for the tour was also completed in 2008, so it was about time I had a proper tour of the distillery again and a look at the very informative displays they've now set up.

This opportunity came along with the invite to come to The Macallan to try the distillery's new 1824-series. As with everything leading up to a tasting at a distillery, our small group of journalists and a lone blogger (me) went for very nice tour first...

Located on a 400 acre estate and now producing 10,2 million liters of spirit annually, it makes Macallan the 3rd largest malt distillery in Scotland at present.

Taking in 470 tonnes of barley each week of the Concerto and Minstrel varieties. Macallan has 30 farmers in the south of Scotland and northern England contracted with producing barley exclusively for the distillery as well as growing a small portion of Minstrel themselves on about 95 acres of their land. The malting process is done by the commercial maltsters Simpsons of Berwick.

Macallan Estate barley field, June 13th 2013, © The Malt Desk

At Macallan the mashing is done like everywhere else with different waters. A mash tun is present in both the 1st and 2nd production areas.

In production area 2, the fermentation process is done in 6 x 30.000 liter washbacks made of Douglas Fir which looks nicer than the stainless steel ones in area 1, so of course this is the place to take people through on a tour. Production area 1 has 16 stainless steel washbacks with a capacity of app. 36.500 liters each.

The fermentation is slightly longer than the average (48-50h) at other distilleries, being 56h long. A longer fermentation produces more fruity notes in the wash. A desireable note in the final Macallan spirit...

Macallan Wash Backs - June 12th 2013, © The Malt Desk

Having the smallest stills in Speyside at just 3.900 liters capacity, Macallan produces a heavy and oily but at the same time fruity spirit. The construction of the lyne arm of the spirit stills are probably the steepest in all of Scotland which allows for very little reflux and ensures the before mentioned heavier spirit characteristics to flow through into the new make spirit. Unfortunately no photography was allowed in the stillhouse and filling store, so you'll have to imagine those :-/

At the same time Macallan has probably the smallest 'middle cut' or 'heart' of the run in Scotland at only 16% of the whole distillation process which doesn't allow for many impurities to find its way into the final spirit. The spirit run is as high as 72%, but the average put into the casks is 69,8% alc.

For Macallans own bottlings they're now only filling ex-sherry casks made either of American and European oak. The price of casks have soared and now you're paying £650 for an ex-sherry butt, £450 for an ex-sherry hogshead but still only £70 for a bourbon hogshead. These prices mean that Macallan will spend £16.4 mill on casks in their financial year 2013/2014. Quite a bit of money!!

With currently just under 200.000 casks in their bonded warehouses at the moment, Macallan still have stocks to work with and will still be putting out vintages from time to time.

Older warehouses at Macallan (HDR shot) hence the strong colours, 12th June 2013, © The Malt Desk



The 1824-series that has taken a lot of bashing in the online whisky community...
But is it really fair? I mean, its is a pretty big step to remove the age statement on your bottlings as this is probably -besides the distillery name- one of the major selling points of the whisky, am I right? or is it just because we're used to seeing a number on the label?

Looking back, I was a sceptic too when I first read about this new path The Macallan (and other distillers) had decided to take... but then I hadn't tasted it, so maybe it was the words came a bit premature?... and then I struck me - have the other critical voices tasted it? Looking at the dates of the online criticism posting dates and the release of the 1824-series, the main group of critical voices couldn't have tried it unless they'd been given advance samples... nobody had indicated they had done so. Let's see what all the fuzz is about then, eh?

This series is also put together by Macallan's resident whisky maker, Bob Dalgarno who's been with Macallan since 1984, first as a warehouse man, but has since 1996 been involved with nosing and tasting. In 2000 Bob became the new Macallan whisky maker and has been dedicated to this since - his latest creation being the 1824-series where the emphasis is more on colour and taste than on age, hence the 'No Age statement' on the bottles.

Here's my take on the new 1824-series - the Gold, Amber, Sienna and Ruby expressions... I will not be scoring these whiskies as this was a slightly rushed tasting, but I'll share my immediate notes and impressions with you, of course...

For my Danish/European mainland readers, please note the 'Gold' will only be available in the UK and Canada.

New Make, Gold, Amber, Sienna, Ruby tasting @ Easter Elchies House, 12th June 2013, © The Malt Desk

Macallan 'Gold' 40%

Refill American oak sherry casks/Refill Spanish oak sherry casks

My impressions:
Very fresh, vanilla, banana, citrus and lighty floral

First impression is a whisky that would go nicely with sitting on the terrace in the sun, slowly sipping it over a little ice.


Macallan 'Amber' 40%

Refill American oak sherry casks/Refill Spanish oak sherry casks
A slightly high portion of Spanish oak is used here

My impressions:
Again vanilla, ginger and spices, fruits (apple) and crisp malt

Macallan aims at a tasting profile of 12-15yo whisky with this one, but personally I feel it being maybe a little younger, but enjoyable for sure!


Macallan 'Sienna' 43%

50% 1st fill American oak sherry casks/ 50% 1st fill Spanish oak sherry casks

My impressions:
Ginger, cinnamon, heavy cookie dough, some chocolate and orange

This is very delicious indeed! Both thumbs up for Bob Dalgarno's work with this one!


Macallan 'Ruby' 43%

100% 1st fill Spanish oak sherry casks

My impressions:
Dried fruits and oak, raisins and coffee and oranges

Reminded me somewhat of a low abv% version of the Cask strength expression available back in my early whisky drinking years... Also very enjoyable!


My conclusion on this new series? well, not a half bad job, I must admit... (irony may have been used here) ;-) it's good whisky, though the hard core anoraks will probably still say this is a series done to make up for dwindling stocks... maybe it is? maybe it isn't... bottom line is I think this is good whisky, especially the 'Sienna' and 'Ruby'-expressions. Market forces at work will still have this series flying off the shelves, IMO... and thats the desired effect!

Thanks to Martin and Edrington Denmark for the invitation to visit Macallan!

MACALLAN 1988 24.124 'CLOSE TO THE EDGE OF EXTREME' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

Had a small wander around the grounds at Macallan during the Spirit of Speyside Festival.
This was Sunday 5th May... but the Distillery Visitor's Centre was closed?? Why is a place like The Macallan not open during a whisky festival, I had to ask myself?? It sure seemed odd to me?!?!

Anyway, looking down on the Spey from the grounds next to Easter Elchies house is really something on a day sunny day and you can't help agreeing with the location of the iconic house featured on the Macallan label. A beautiful spot, indeed...

Easter Elchies House and garden @ Macallan - May 5th 2013 © The Malt Desk

This time I'll be tasting something that immediately lead my thoughts back to the 10yo cask strength version from a few years back, though this expression is twice as old... and what The Macallan should really be like, IMO...

Please also visit the blog again in the second half of June - I'll have more on The Macallan then...

Now, on to the review...

Macallan 1988 24.124 (22.12.1988) 23yo 'Close to the edge of extreme' 50,8%, refill ex-sherry butt, 403 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is mahogany

Nose:
Varnish, clean but also slightly floral sherry than initially smells more fino than oloroso, very herbal too, strong tea, strawberry, Tia Maria liqueur and a slight dairy note

Taste:
Very creamy arrival, heavy on the sherry - oloroso this time, nuts, molasses, malt, black olives, tobacco, drying and a hint of yeast and burnt caramel on the finish.

A delicious Macallan, this one...just short of making 91p, so...

90/100!

MACALLAN 1993 - ADELPHI

Macallan - The 'Rolls Royce' of Distilleries... James Bond drinks Macallan 50yo, Macallan and Oakley design makes an indestructible hip flask...

We all know Macallan in association with these adjectives and lately we've also seen them remove the age statement from most of their bottlings. There were public outcries across the whisky world when owners Edrington announced this...

I must admit that an age statement on the bottle suits me the best... BUT that said I do get its easier for the distillers to put together bottlings when they're not limited to using stock of a certain minimum age. The NAS (No age statement) quickly became NAS (No aged stock) on media like Facebook when this was announced... and honestly this is probably what this is all about - the distillers can't keep up with demand anymore. You see this across several brands these days - likes of Ardbeg, Glenmorangie, Laphroaig and Talisker have also been doing this for a while now, so it can hardly come as a surprise markets are still surging outside the Euro-zone.

I've yet to try the new Macallans now labelled the '1824'-series... but is this all bad? for the whisky drinker? well, maybe - you don't know how old the whisky you're drinking is anymore, but if it tastes is ok, do you mind? do you see the age statement on the bottle as a stamp of quality assurance or can you do without as long as it tastes good? Feel free to leave your thoughts on this below...

We're of course heading into a Macallan review here... and a Macallan from one of my favourite bottlers, Adelphi...

It's a refill sherry hogshead and I wrote this review when I was 3/4 down the bottle and I'm thinking this is what the -now to be discontinued- Fine Oak series might taste like at full strength...

Macallan 1993 17yo 53,7%, refill sherry hogshead#11641, Adelphi

Colour is light amber

Nose:
Stewed apples, hints of white chocolate, thick malt, a little spicy oak nip and an almost floral sweetness to it, heathery and buttery

Taste:
Creamy malt and spice arrival, then a light sherry sweetness along with warm apples, huge malt presence, more fruits, toffee, oily, nuts and spices.

Great stuff, this one!

88/100!