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Macallan Whisky: Luxury, Fun and Malt

Posted on2021-09-03

One of the first Scottish distilleries

The story of Macallan begins in Scotland, in a house near Easter Elchies House (Craigellachie) in 1824, when Alexander Reid, a teacher and farmer, was granted (or rather persuaded to get) one of the first legal licences.

In the past, the farmers of The Macallan Estate made whisky on their farms in Speyside, Scotland, from what was left over from the barley they grew for food.

Alexander Reid, a professor and farmer.

This professor thought it would be a good idea to age his whiskies only in sherry casks bought in Jerez de la Frontera (Cadiz). This idea may seem an expensive but reasonable experiment to us today. However, we are talking about 1824, a time when travel was a luxury, there was no air transport and importing/exporting was tremendously complicated.

The gamble paid off.

The gamble worked out well for Alexander, who bought a distillery with a small shed and 2 stills to produce his whisky, which began as a Blended until 1980, when this market fell off and it was decided to focus Macallan on the new single malt category.

Over the past few years, Macallan has placed a strong emphasis on those old-premium bottles that are 50 or 60 years old, the creation of the Fine & Rare series, with bottles dating back to 1926, and the Masters of Photography series.

Maghellan, the first name of Macallan Whisky

Maghellan, the first name of Macallan whisky.

Early in the Macallan's history, the name bestowed upon it was Maghellan, which comes from a Gallic word "magh", meaning fertile land, and "Ellan", the name of the monk St Fillan, a monk who stayed on the lands of The Macallan Estate until the 1400s.

Maghellan is the first Macallan whisky to be named after the monk St Fillan, a monk who stayed on the lands of The Macallan Estate until the 1400s.

Wood is one of the key points at Macallan

Wood is one of Macallan's key strengths.

Macallan's reputation precedes them. One of the finest whiskies in the world would not be the same if mastery of wood were not one of its cornerstones.

Macallan's reputation precedes them.

At Macallan, all casks are made, toasted and checked by their Master of Wood and The Macallan team, and any that don't measure up are discarded. Macallan states that "up to 80% of the definitive flavour and character of The Macallan is determined by its casks. And no wonder, just as in wine, one of the greatest exponents of barrel slavishness, a more or less toasted or unevenly toasted barrel can greatly vary the taste, smell and even the colour of our favourite wines.

If it don't sparkle, it ain't Macallan

In the case of Macallan, all the colour in their whiskies is produced by the casks in which they are aged. So How do they get all their whiskies to be uniform if every tree is different? It's simple, at Macallan they have a passionate team of people who do everything they can to homogenise the whisky, checking cask by cask to see which cask is the best fit.

Macallan series

Below you will find some of the rarest and most expensive models of Macallan whisky:

Macallan whisky series:

Fine Oak series

In an attempt to win more customers, Macallan developed this series in 2004, in which Sherry series casks and American Oak casks that had contained Bourbon were used to age a new concept of Macallan, lighter, sweeter and with a more pronounced flavour.

Despite criticism from die-hard fans, this new profile attracted new drinkers, most of them in new markets.

The varieties in the Fine Oak series are: 10, 12, 15, 17, 17, 18, 21, 25 and 30 years old.

Sherry Oak series

The Sherry series is famous for being matured in Spanish casks (produced in Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia and taken to Jerez to be refilled for 18 months) once they have been emptied of the Spanish sherry, from the newly created whisky.

The varieties of the Sherry Oak series are: 10 years, 10 years cask strength, 12, 18, 25 and 30 years.

Collection 1824

The 1824 collection is in the 1824 collection.

The 1824 collection is made up of a number of unique, limited edition, hard-to-get bottles

The 1824 collection is made up of several unique, limited edition bottles.

Macallan Select Oak

Raised in Spanish and American oak barrels selected by George Espie, Macallan's wood master. From the acorn from which the oak grows to the glass the production process takes more than 100 years to produce results and in a sweet, smooth spirit.

Macallan's oak barrels are the best in the world.

Macallan Whisky Makers Edition

Distilled from barley grown on the Macallan estate, Maker's Whisky Edition is crafted by Bob Dalgarno and bottled at his preferred strength of 42.8% APV.

Macallan Estate Reserve

Taken from casks selected for maximum intensity and depth of flavour, including some seasoned sherry casks specially reserved for this expression. It is non-chill filtered and bottled in the old 80 proof style, more commonly known as 20 under.

.Macallan 1824 limited edition

Crafted from the oldest Macallan casks, it will be bottled differently each year. In 2009, 1824 hand-crafted crystal decanters were produced and decorated by a Scottish goldsmith.

Macallan Dark

It is made from a series of Sherry Oak barrels, which produces its special colour.

Fine & Rare

This is Macallan's longest running series, where the real hidden treasures appear. Beginning in 1926, Macallan periodically release some of these bottles that are the subject of auctions and cult status.

Macallan 1926 image result — The Macallan 1926 - Auctioned for $1,100,000

The Macallan 1926: 120 years
The Macallan 1937: 32 years
The Macallan 1937: 37 years
The Macallan 1938: 31 years
The Macallan 1938: 35 years
The Macallan 1948: 53 years
The Macallan 1949: 52 years
The Macallan 1949: 53 years
The Macallan 1950: 52 years cask 598
The Macallan 1950: 52 years cask 600
The Macallan 1951: 51 years
The Macallan 1952: 49 years
The Macallan 1952: 50 years
The Macallan 1953: 49 years
The Macallan 1954: 47 years
The Macallan 1955: 46 years
The Macallan 1958: 43 years
The Macallan 1959: 43 years
The Macallan 1964: 37 years
The Macallan 1965: 36 years
The Macallan 1966: 35 years
The Macallan 1967: 35 years
The Macallan 1968: 33 years
The Macallan 1968: 34 years
The Macallan 1969: 32 years cask 9369
The Macallan 1969: 32 years old cask 10412
The Macallan 1970: 31 years
The Macallan 1970: 32 years
The Macallan 1971: 30 years cask 4280
The Macallan 1971: 30 years cask 7556
The Macallan 1972: 29 year old cask 4014
The Macallan 1972: 29 year old cask 4043
The Macallan 1973: 30 years
The Macallan 1974: 30 years
The Macallan 1975: 30 years
The Macallan 1976: 29 years

Lalique

A special series created with the finest and highest quality crystals produced by man, Lalique. The last series of these bottles was auctioned by Sotheby's for $993,000

The Macallan Lalique I: 50 años
El Macallan Lalique II: 55 años
El Macallan "Lalique III": 57 años

Masters of Photography
Masters of Photography is a limited edition Macallan release with several photographs taken by renowned Magnum agency photographers of the Macallan distillery.

Please don't worry!

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El Macallan Edición Rankin
El Macallan Edición Albert Watson
El Macallan Edición Annie Leibovitz
El Macallan Edición Elliot Erwitt

Exclusive distillates

The Macallan Ghillie's Dram
The Macallan Cask Selection 2008 Release

Without Serie

The Macallan: 1961 (40 años), 1946 (52 años), 1948 (51 años), & 1951 (49 años)
The Macallan Replica: 1861, 1874, 1841, 1876, y 1851
The Macallan Vintage Travel: años 20, 30, 40 y 50
El Macallan Excepcional: I, II, III, IV, V y VI
The Macallan Cask Strength: Estados Unidos y Reino Unido
The Macallan 50 años
The Macallan Adami
The Macallan Blake
The Macallan Gran Reserva 1979, 1980
The Macallan Gran Reserva 1982, 2002
The Macallan Millennium Dec
The Macallan Private Eye sin declaración de edad aunque la edición incluye un cask de1961
The Macallan Speaker Martin's