Macallan 12 Year Old Sherry Oak 110 Proof Single Malt Scotch Review

Situated in the north east of Scotland lies the village of Craigellachie on the confluence of the Rivers Spey and Fiddich. Although Craigellachie is found in the Central Highlands of Scotland it also gives us one of Scotch whiskies most famous regions – Speyside. This region was only finally defined as recently as 2009 in the 2009 Scotch Whisky Regulations…. I won’t bore you with the specifics, you can look into that yourself.

I’ll get into Speyside’s history in another review.

Located within this most famous of regions is also one of Scotland’s most famous, or infamous depending on your view, distilleries in the form of Macallan. Established in 1824 by Alexander Reid who obtained one of the new distilling licenses created after the 1823 Excise Act, the distiller change hands and was eventually bought in 1892 by Roderick Kemp, a wine and spirits merchant, who started Macallan’s long association with sherry cask maturation.

As blends became king in the Scotch whisky industry Macallan was a very sought after malt for blending. Interestingly it wasn’t really until the late 1970’s and early 1980’s that Macallan really positioned themselves as a Single Malt brand.

Now seen more as luxury brand rather than a whisky for the enthusiast and there are a few reasons for that.

In 2004 they introduced the Fine Oak series which introduced bourbon casks into their maturation and produced a lighter, sweeter profile compared to the oily, heavier profiles of old.

This led onto the 1824 range of no age statement whiskies that used colour coding to denote the flavour profiles.

Also in these years came a more focused emphasis on the luxury market with the 50 & 60 year old Lalique Decanter releases, the Fine & Rare expressions and the Masters of Photography. 

Finally the presentation and price rises haven’t helped. Usually offered between 40 & 43% abv and chill filtered coupled with the super premium price tag, well most whisky drinkers decided to look elsewhere, like Glendronach for example.

Certainly the perceived quality versus price argument was one of the reasons why I hadn’t bought a bottle in years. It’s not that Macallan makes terrible whisky but I knew I could get better for my hard earned cash.

But then along came a bottle that caught my eye!

Macallan 12 Year Old Sherry Oak 110 Proof               55% abv       $115 /  £85 / E100

Maturation: predominantly in sherry seasoned European Oak with a little American Oak

Nose: Musty rancio, walnuts, dates, fig rolls, cherry and blueberry compote, strawberry laces and marzipan, mixed citrus peel, salted caramel, clove and freshly grated nutmeg. Oak and furniture polish.

Water brings out coffee cake, treacle and toffee apples.

Palate: An oily mouthfeel and a little hot on arrival with the first sip. Oak tannins and spices – hot cinnamon, clove, fresh ginger, white pepper and old leather. Then the fruitiness – damson jam, dates, raisins and black cherries. Espresso and chilli dark chocolate with walnuts and brazil nuts.

Water tames the heat – nougat, kirsch and stewed orchard fruit.

Finish: Medium to long with cacao nibs, espresso, ginger and nuts.

Score: 8 out of 10

Overall: Finally a Macallan that I can actually say I feel is worthy of buying. It’s amazing to see how the presentation affects the delivery! 

Considering the water wriggle room you have with the bottling strength of 55% this, although being around $25-30 more expensive than the standard 12 year old Sherry Oak, this expression offers much more value for money and a much better experience overall.

I just wish Macallan would ditch the 43% bottling strengths of the core range and aim for at least 46% and definitely embrace non chill filtration.

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