The Macallan (18 year)
October 13, 2011
The Macallan 18 lies at the intersection of two worlds. On one hand it remains the staple of luxury hotel bars, CEO offices, and corporate Christmas gifts. Drinking it has become something of a status symbol. When Jessica Simpson ordered a glass of The Macallan 18 at a restaurant in L.A. (over ice.. gah!) it made headlines (not, you know, USA Today, but bear with me here). If a big-time corporate CEO doesn’t know much about scotch but needs to impress foreign investors, chances are he pours either The Macallan 18 or Johnnie Walker Blue Label. Usually when a product attains this type of status with “the public”, it becomes persona non grata with the anoraks, geeks, and connoisseurs that make up the rest of the industry. Not so with The Macallan 18. A consistent level of quality combined with a popular (if older) style of cask aging – all sherry, all the way – make this dram a standard favorite among even the whisky elite. At WhiskyFest last week, The Macallan table was as busy as ever – they were pouring the 18.
The only complaint most experts have about The Macallan is that their incredible level of production – 8 million liters of alcohol annually – implies a corporate culture of mass-production. When “efficiency” begins to trump “quality” in the boardroom, customers suffer. Whether that’s the case at Edrington or not, The Macallan 18 continues to impress.
I split this bottle with a friend – purchased in July of 2011, it comes from one of the more recent batches. I remember having a glass from a previous batch early in my whisky education and being blown away by the smoothness and the dark, leathery complexity. Today’s Macallan 18 is perhaps a little brighter, a little sweeter, and just as good.
Nose: Sherry all the way. The fruit here is bright and juicy: ripe red raspberries, strawberry preserves, quince paste on toasted wheat bread, some oaky caramel and hot drawn butter. It’s a beautiful, silky nose with pristine sherry character and perfectly aged malt. A few drops of water makes it seem younger, bringing a little candy apple and fruit punch.
Palate: Oaky upfront, furniture varnish, a little cherrywood peeking through. Unbelievably smooth on the tongue, with barely any burn. Mouthfeel is unctuous and medium-thick. Jams and preserves dominate, dried figs, milk chocolate-dipped dried apricots. A little water dulls the brighter notes, muddying the clarity of the flavors somewhat.
Finish: Medium-long, with a bit of cigar tobacco, cocoa nibs, dried cranberries, and a last eddy of woodiness.
Overall: The beauty of this is in the nose. It’s hard to imagine a more perfect sherry-matured nose: the malt integrates flawlessly with the equally flawless sherry notes. Nothing is out of place or weighted too heavily. No leaning towards the rancid fruit, nor any suggestion of oak saturation. In the mouth, the quality is evident, but the number of detectable flavors is limited. The finish, while capable, doesn’t reveal anything unexpected. Truly a classic dram, which continues to be excellent. I suggest skipping the water – this whisky doesn’t need it.
About The Distillery
The Macallan is big. Real big. Prized by collectors, consumed all over the world, The Macallan is a marketing powerhouse, with a very wide range of single-malt expressions targeting local tastes in every major market. Distilling almost continuously since 1824 when Scotland first legalized the production of spirits, The Macallan releases “replicas” of its older bottlings and also continuously experiments with new finishes. With global whisky tastes evolving away from the classic “all Sherry, all the time” style, The Macallan is battling its image as a Sherry Monster by releasing a “Fine Oak” range that focuses on the wood influence, and using a lower proportion of Sherry aging. You can always rely on a flagship Macallan to display big sherry notes of dark fruit, raisins, and spice.
Good single malt but overpriced by $60. I have a buddy who loves the stuff so I let him buy it and share. Works for me.
Scotch is a rarity for me but this is one of the better of the widely available single malt scotches I have tried. Very smooth, hints of oak and sherry with a subtle but distinctive peaty finish. Don’t even think about corrupting this fine elixir with ice, soda or water. Neat only, and preferrably a double or else save your money and stick with light beer and Jack Daniels.
A very smooth scotch, beautiful color and density. Im enjoying it together with a Cohiba Robusto as we speak.
It was a gift from a very good friend of mine. I drink JW Blue and Chivas, but this one takes the cake.
A 5/5 star one for me.
Johnnie Walker blue? lol that stuff is joke. First its blended & second it claims to range from 40-60 years. You can pick up a bottle for $200 and less. For something that old and cheap, its exactly what you would expect…. cheap knock off Scotch. I did mention its blended right? Ugh
@Ryan, It’s actually “blended malt”, which means no grain whisky. It’s a vatting of many different single malts. I’ve never had JW Blue, but every review online says it’s overpriced. It targets a very specific market: People who want to drink expensive whisky, but who don’t want to do the research or personal experimentation that it takes to find which expensive whisky is good (ie. worth the money). I wouldn’t knock JW Blue simply because of its status as a blended malt, but rather because of its commercialism and price.
No it isn’t. Green is the blended malt, red, black, double black, gold, and blue are all blended with grain whisky in them.
I don’t think Blue Label is a blended malt – Green Label is (and frankly it’s my favorite of the lot – never tried Blue though). But anyway, pretty sure Blue Label is a blend, including grain whisky. Not saying it’s bad, just not a blended malt.
Troy, thanks for the correction – you’re correct, JW Blue does contain grain whisky, and is thus a blended scotch, not a blended malt. My bad! I always get those JW labels mixed up.
Green label is their only blended malt product.
Your exclamation (gah!) about pooring Scotch over ice is in fact snobbish, if I may say so. There’s nothing wrong with having a cooled glass of Scotch with something to “cut” the alcohol. I understand those who wouldn’t but McCallan themselves sell an Ice Ball maker (at a hefty price) and the glass it fits over which they poor their nectar, in order to have a cold sip with less dilution. I love it that way.
@Rye, I tell people, generally, that they should drink their whisky however it brings them the most pleasure – I’m glad you have found the way you like to enjoy it best. That being said, it is true that ice “dulls” or “hides” some of the flavor of whisky, much like it makes ice cream taste less like pure sugar. I always suggest that people try whisky straight, without water or ice, first so that they know what it tastes like, rather than just automatically pouring it over ice because that’s what they do in the movies. If you like it over ice – enjoy it! And don’t let anyone tell you not to.
Well, normally that’s the case. But Macallan is a different animal. It is so smooth, not a hint of burn, that dumping ice in there will ruin thr flavor. It’s not a snob thing. It’s an OMG this is so spectacular it doesn’t need ice thing.
In fact, I think adding ice makes it less smooth – burns more. In any case, I understand where you’re coming from but you need to take Macallan for a spin before you render a verdict of crapping it up with ice. It is truly the touchstone of Scotch whiskey’s for a reason.
Man, I’m thirsty.
Aman to this comment! I drink the 18 on a regular basis and can’t imagine putting ice in it.
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I drink the 18 on a regular basis. Putting this scotch over ice?? Lol… Major waste! Snobbish or not… Get the 12 if you are going to destroy it with ice. You can’t tell the difference anyway over ice.
This is my favorite to date. I only have it when our company has “work socials” with the open bar.
If you get the chance please review the Macallan 1700 series directors edition, if you do i hope you enjoy it as much as i did.