Macallan 2000 Speymalt c. 1774

 

 

 

56,6°

Distillery : The Macallan - Speyside

1st Fill Sherry Cask

Independent Bottling 

By Gordon & McPhail 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask

Bottled in 2021

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Totally Unpeated

 

 

 

The relationship is strong between Macallan and Gordon & McPhail, at the time of the Great Depression and the Second World War, the independent bottler never broke its contracts with the distillery, even if the demand fell, as many distilleries were closing. Once this challenging time has passed, these gentlemen of Macallan knew how to be grateful, by giving their rescuers direct access to their casks, without restriction. This is how the Speymalt range was born, entirely dedicated to the single Macallan distillery, today one of the most expensive on the market. This bottling was distilled in 2000 and aged for 20 years in a Sherry cask. The age is not mentioned on the label, but auction sites confirm it is 20 yo. 236 bottles were produced.

Let's Taste It : 

Intense sherry, sticky, elegant oak, on tinder, sandalwood, raspberry coulis, forest undergrowth, and behind it is robust, structured, varnished, it's a typical distillery nose, but a bit too rich for my taste. Very well done nonetheless. On the palate, almost Haribo candy, strawberry cake, with a good big ladleful of pastry cream, blood orange, blueberry and blackcurrant, a hint of vanilla, well-tuned spices, nutmeg, pepper, clove. Very long and vigorous finish, charcoal and earth, dark chocolate, return of red fruits, with varnished noble wood, ferns, heather.

 

In Short,

For once, it's a tad too Sherry for me, and yet I'm a fan of this type of maturation. I don't know what went wrong, it is true that there were a lot of Sherry aged Whiskys that night, and maybe I ended up being saturated. It seemed too rich, too sweet, too sticky, with a little rancio. But I guess others will love it, and anyway it's still high level. So much the better, because the price is also excessive, and it takes a lot of love to bring such a sum into line.

Score : 89 

                                           To Be Listened While Sipping :

 

                                           Mabe Fratti - Desde el Cielo