Malt whisky drinkers around the world tend to fall into one of two camps: Those that like Macallan and those that remember what it used to be like. So has the whisky changed? And why is Macallan so expensive these days?
Now before you leap to conclusions and dismiss this piece as a Macallan-bashing article, I can give you my golden promise that it’s not. Stay with us…
Merely by virtue of age, I’m in that camp of people that remembers what The Macallan used to be like. Those who were drinking Macallan in the 1980’s, 1990’s, and into the start of the new millennium will remember when the standard 12yo expression (pictured below) used to cost roughly the same as most other 12 year old malts on the market, and yet it was perceived by the majority of malt enthusiasts to be significantly better than almost any other 12yo it competed with. Indeed, the 12yo was better than almost any other 15yo or 18yo on the market in those times! And we remember when the Macallan 18yo – which carried a vintage statement up until the 1983 vintage, then a statement of “distilled in 19xx or earlier” for the 1984, ’85, and ’86 releases – was pretty much the pinnacle of any whisky you could buy. If you need a time stamp for these recollections, for those of my cohort, it was from the mid-1990’s through until 2004.
Perhaps, more critically, long-time Macallan fans remember when Macallan meant sherry. The portfolio didn’t feature names like “Fine Oak”, “Double Oak” or any distinction between oak types, because buying a Macallan meant you were getting a 100% sherry-matured whisky. Period. Of course, Macallan had been filling its spirit into ex-bourbon casks for years, it’s just that consumerville wasn’t aware: Such casks weren’t being bottled by the distillery for their commercial, official releases. Such casks, or fillings, simply went to the blenders.
On the subject of Macallan’s excellence and market dominance, there is a famous story told amongst the elders of The Gillies Club, Australia. Back in 1979, a group of Gillies Club members made a pilgrimage to Scotland and visited some 25 distilleries. Think about the state of the industry in 1979 and the number of distilleries that actually had visitor centres at that time, and you’ll appreciate that this was very much an “insiders” excursion that visited behind the scenes. It’s on the record that the tour group made a point of asking each distillery manager or tour guide what they reckoned was the best malt being made in Scotland. The near-unanimity was unbelievable: 24 of 25 replied “Macallan”. The one outlier was Colonel Hector MacKenzie, distillery manager at Dalmore. His response was an admirable, “I don’t know – I only drink Dalmore”.
The point is, there was a time when Macallan evidently stood head and shoulders above the rest of the pack, yet it remained shoulder-to-shoulder in terms of affordability. But great quality whisky brought an increasingly large fanbase; a large fanbase drove bigger markets and more demand; which brought about supply issues; which brought about a general decline in quality and, perhaps more critically in the context of this article, brought about the necessity for Macallan to introduce ex-bourbon and American oak-matured whiskies into their portfolio. And, perhaps more fundamentally, there simply weren’t enough sherry casks to go around.
It started innocently enough with the Elegancia release; then came the Fine Oak launch in 2004 and the storm and fall-out with it. In hindsight, the whole transition could have been handled better. The “last straw” was the decision by Macallan to withdraw the now so-called “sherry-matured” expressions from several markets – including Australia. Some countries were deemed worthy enough to continue exporting the sherried Macallans to; other markets were evidently deemed unworthy or not important enough. And thus the love affair many long-term fans had started to fade. Add to this some of the PR disasters, including the debacle over the replica releases that were based on a fake, and the brand took a beating.
Of course, in today’s market, all of this is ancient history and – it must be said – fairly irrelevant and of little consequence. Macallan continued to grow the brand, particularly in Asia, and successfully positioned itself as a luxury product with a luxury price tag. Yes, the Lalique decanter bottles kept breaking ridiculous records at auction, but even the regular, core-range whiskies came with (and continue to come with) a premium price tag. The marketing department went into overdrive with an endless procession of limited editions and special releases to keep the collectors salivating. (For example, the Harmony Collection, the Edition series, the Six Pillars, the M Collection, and the recent James Bond 60th Anniversary releases). To be fair, Macallan is by no means alone here…every major whisky brand has expanded its portfolio and product offerings beyond just a humble 10yo or 12yo.
As demand for Macallan continued to grow, there was corresponding pressure on supply and stock, and Macallan turned more than a few heads in 2015 when they decided to market and label their whisky by colour, rather than with an age statement. The spin doctors worked overtime; the punters rolled their eyes; but it was essentially making a virtue of a necessity. To some people, Macallan’s 1824 Series (since discontinued – or at least seemingly rebranded as the Quest range) represented all that was bad with the state of NAS whiskies at that time – a high price tag for what may (or may not) be young-ish spirit, and yet is often merely mediocre whisky. But we’ll get to the point…
To the average consumer with modest means, if you want to taste and experience what authentic, sherry-matured Macallan tastes like today, then – depending on which market/country you’re in – the 1824 Series “Ruby” expression is one option. [Update: The 1824 Series has been discontinued. Try the Terra or Enigma from the Quest range]. Or if you’re lucky enough to get it in your country, you could simply try anything from the Sherry Oak range – available as a 12yo, 18yo, 25yo, and 30yo. But are any of these expressions – all matured exclusively in 1st Fill oloroso casks – actually good sherried whiskies? How do they compare to the famed Macallans of yesteryear?
A few years back, Whisky & Wisdom published an article that got a bit of traction around the globe, entitled “Is whisky better or worse today than it was 20 years ago?” The article was prompted by murmurings about Macallan that were circulating around whisky communities, as Macallan was one distillery that many felt had indeed changed. But change is inevitable. It’s not Macallan’s fault that Golden Promise barley had a relatively lower yield and is no longer a viable crop for farmers (or distillers), or that global consumption of sherry has dropped, or that European oak is now hideously expensive. Or that too many casks are tainted by sulphur. And Macallan obviously isn’t alone here: The same factors at play have influenced the likes of Glendronach, Aberlour (i.e. the a’Bunadh expression), and Glenfarclas. It’s just that those distilleries’ size and the relatively lesser demand for their product (not to mention their ownership structure) means they’ve tackled the problem differently.
So all of this hit home earlier this week when I decided to crack open a bottle I’d been saving for some time: A 50ml miniature bottle of Macallan vintage 1976, bottled as a 19yo in 1995 at 43%. It had been some years since I last tried a Macallan distilled from this era. Yes, back when the barley was all Golden Promise, the sherry was clean and free of sulphur, the casks had a better seasoning regimen, the wood was European oak, and the oak was pristine.
I acquired the bottle in 1998 and had been keeping it safely stored ever since. Unlike many miniatures of this age, the seal was good, and there was no discernible evaporation or ullage. Opening the bottle and pouring a dram was a near-religious moment – it was like a lapsed Christian cautiously entering a church to re-affirm one’s faith. As I held the glass up to my nose and inhaled, feelings of both relief and euphoria washed over me: The nose was stunning. Absolutely, spectacularly stunning. And the palate? Waves of delicious nectar washed over each and every tastebud. The finish was rich, deep, glorious and long. Very long. So long, in fact, that 15 minutes later, as I was doing some other tasks around the house, I was still tasting and experiencing elements of the whisky. Whisky and Wisdom’s official tasting notes are presented further below.
So what does all this mean, and why have we wasted 12 paragraphs and five minutes of your life to convey all this? It is simply because there are many in our whisky community today (particularly bloggers, it seems) who are quick to fire off ill-informed salvos at The Macallan, or who dismiss the brand as being over-priced for what the product actually is. A lot of The Macallan’s expressions are priced at levels beyond what many drinkers can afford (or are prepared to pay), and so – for many – the brand remains an enigma, and I suspect a lot of whisky drinkers out there wonder what all the fuss is about? If you can possibly get your hands on a bottle, or even just a dram, of a Macallan that was bottled prior to, say, 2003, then I suspect you’ll suddenly understand. In fact, that very point is made in the article, Six historical whiskies you MUST try
Perhaps the whole point of this piece was simply to write a story around a humble review of a 50ml miniature, but no, it’s much deeper than that. Tasting the 1976 Macallan re-affirmed my memories of why this was such a beloved brand. It explains and justifies the foundation on which Macallan’s current market (and marketing) is based. In decades past, this was one distillery that was doing something very, very right. After all, 24 out of 25 distillery managers can’t all be wrong, right?
Cheers,
AD
Review & tasting notes for Macallan 1976, bottled in 1995, 43% ABV.
Nose: Prunes. Red currants. Huon pine and camphorwood. Old gold chocolate. Stewed plums. Pedro Ximenez, perhaps even Tokay. The longer you leave it in the glass, the more pronounced the oak becomes.
Palate: Toffee, but with all the beautiful spice and bite of European oak. Some pine resin, rich oloroso, and old honeycomb. It delivers the perfect balance of sweetness, sherry and spice.
Finish: A little drying, initially, but then comes waves of sweet porridge, cough mixture (the nice sort!), and burnt toffee. The more sips you have, the more oloroso is left on your palate.
Comments: A classic, aged, sherried delight. It’s clean, spicy, and delivers EXACTLY what Macallans of this era were famed for. The oak is more pronounced than the regular 18yo expressions of this time (which were released by vintage), but the overall balance is maintained and the European oak leaves a distinctive and very welcome footprint. Top marks.
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