Origin: Speyside (Scotland)
Type: Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Strength: 44.2%ABV
Ageing casks: Sherry seasoned american casks and sherry refill
Chillfiltered: Yes
Added coloring: No
Owner: Edrington Group
Average price: € 230.00
Official website: www.themacallan.com
The debut of the fourth edition in the series, in the first half of 2024, which kicked off the distillery’s bicentenary celebrations with the imaginative collaboration of Cirque Du Soleil.
Thus, in the now customary promotional synergy with other luxury brands, the use of seasoned sherry casks is repeated, with the addition of (unseasoned?) sherry refills and, this time, packaging made from cask processing residues. In the show created by the renowned circus company to mark the anniversary, Arla, the daughter of a master distiller, loses her connection with nature in her frantic search for the perfect shade of red. On her journey, she meets characters that represent (more or less) the Macallan story, such as Fergus the Fox, the Peacock and the Salmon, and in the figure of her guardian Davonna, she discovers the riches of the Highlands (and I imagine Speyside, where the distillery is actually located), which leads directly to the second bottle for travel retail, Guardian Oak.
So much emphasis on a return to the primary values of nature and environmental conservation, less (as always) on the liquid in the bottle, the only thing left apart from the narrative that we, unsensitive whisky drinkers, more or less give a hoot about.
Tasting Notes
After an initial burst of vanilla, spices (nutmeg, cinnamon) and sponge cake, the nose opens up to citrus (lime, bergamot), yoghurt cream, almonds, pear juice and green tea. Trifle. In short, it becomes more acidic, towards fermented milk with spices. Vibrant Milk.
Light in the mouth, as always, with the spices (also ginger and aniseed) underpinning the bitter notes of liquorice and rhubarb, with undertones of lemon cream, lime, marzipan, gooseberry, blackcurrant, toasted hazelnut and wood. Balsamic afflatus on the length.
A rather short finish with spices, pear, liquorice, vanilla, vegetable and woody notes.
When the liquid has nothing to say, it is perhaps inevitable to concentrate the narrative elsewhere: a harmless, forgettable dram with all the sins of youth of casks lacking much personality.
Vote: 78/100