The Macallan

I carried this bottle home in my backpack, from the Orkneys. I knew little about it, other than the fact that the name Macallan came up regularly when discussing malts with the people in Scotland. One day, (well, pretty much when we got in the door)  we decided to crack it open and see what we had. 

The Macallan labels itself as a highland whiskey, from Craigellachie, Scotlaand  It is a Speyside, from the region east of Inverness.

My first impression was that we had found El Dorado. This whiskey was ambrosia. It melted in your mouth like fine chocolate and was incredibly smooth. Macallan Gold was not available in Manitoba - best hide the bottle! I have to say, that even with my uneducated palate, I thought I had found something very special. 

So, as one might do with all rare and momentous things...we hoarded this away for special occasions.

That meant we couldn't drink it.  That meant we had to get something else. 

We had met Jay by chance on our voyage from Ireland to Scotland, and he worked at the Bruichladdich distillery on Islay.  I had never heard of Bruichladdich, and was not aware of the proper pronunciation of Islay (I-La).  So when he spoke of Bruichladdich and I-la, I had no idea what he was talking about.  But he was a good bloke and said it was good whiskey, so we decided to try it.

But we couldn't find it.  Although there was a space for it in many of the stores we tried along the way, there was no stock.  So we checked our local liquor store website and knew we could get some when we arrived home.

Remember, we couldn't drink the Macallan - it was rare and special.  So we drank the bottle of Bruichladdich, Classic Laddie version.  And we finished it off, while the Macallan waited in storage.  Hidden.  While I thought the Laddie was fine, it was no smooth ambrosia Macallan!  But the Laddie was the first bottle that we finished off since we got back from Scotland.

So, we needed something else.  We picked up a bottle of Glendronach 12, because someone recommended it, and a bottle of Aberlour 12 because it was one of the cheapest single malts we could buy.  Now we had a few bottles, and this was important because we could do some comparisons.  One evening, we had some friends over, and decided it was time to do a four way taste test.  Glendronach, Macallan Gold, and the Aberlour.  Of course, I knew which would "win".  (We had found 'Nirvana' after all.)  So there were were, four people,  3 malts and twelve shot glasses I had purchased specifically for the occasion.  Only I knew which was which and I wasn't telling.  We would save the best for last.

So we did the testing, me being confident of the results, and when I hoisted my final glass, containing the Macallan, I had a surprising realization.  It WAS smooth.   We all agreed.  It DID melt in your mouth.  We were unanimous.  But so did water.  There was no guts to it.  There was little taste.  It seemed, when compared to the others, almost....limp.

While I wasn't disappointed, I did make an important realization.  I want something with more boldness.  I actually preferred the Aberlour or the Glendronach.  I now consider The Macallan gold to be a very good whisky, that would be particularly good for introducing someone to Single Malts so that they could enjoy the subtle nature, without being overwhelmed by too much all at once.  In othe words, you would give a neonate Macallan gold, rather than Laphroaig, if you ever wanted them to touch another dram of Scotch.

What I subsequently learned was that these versions of Macallan were their new way of doing things. They no longer defined whiskey by age, but by colour. Hence, this was Macallan "Gold". The colour gold, as opposed to Gold, silver, and bronze…gold being the best. Macallan gold was not available in Canada where I live when I got back from Scotland, but it has subsequently arrived.  So we don't have to hoard it any more.  The new colours of Macallan are Gold, Amber, Sienna and Ruby (ranked in ascending price from about $60.00 to about $300.00. I paid about 40 pounds for this bottle in Scotland, so I didn't get any bargain buying it there as I would have with some of the malts available here.  I noted, in researching this, that there is also a 1969 bottle of Macallan, for a price of $17,000. I think I would prefer a new car.

It's all about the journey.

This blog is not so much about single malts as it is about the path to learning about something that one seeks to understand.   To write about single malts, one should actually know about single malts, which I do not, nor is that my intention.   It is about the path not the destination.  I have nothing to tell, only experiences to share.

I am entirely without credentials.  I know nothing,  and have little in the way of experience, and nothing in the way of background.  I simply want to learn.

And when I left Scotland, though I could claim that I had tried a few single malts, I certainly was not able to even recall how one differed from the other.

I learned a small amount by the tour we did of the Oban distillery.  While the oldest in Scotland, it is a relatively small distillery producing only about 650,000 litres a year.  (A wee bit over half a million might sound like a lot, but that would only keep 2000 hard core bottle a day drinkers intoxicated year round)

Back in the day, Oban was what I bought.  However, back in the day, it was less than $40.00 a bottle.  Now, here in Manitoba, it goes for $125.00.  I guess, that sometime in the last few years, they discovered a magic spring for the water that justified a 300% increase in the price.

But the tour itself was quite interesting.  The things I noted were that Scotch Whiskey is "simple".  There are only three ingredients.  Barley, Water and Yeast.  These are combined in these BIG barrels that look like they are filled with really really weak broth, and they ferment for only about four days.  The yeast works on the sugar in the barley, and alcohol is created.

After less than a week, the liquid is moved to the stills, where it is heated and cooled, allowing the alcohol to be separated.  The liquid alcohol, (spirit)  runs through a clear box with a big lock on it, called a spirit safe.  There are instruments in the safe that can be used to measure the strength of the alcohol.  If the alcohol is too weak, it is sent back to the still, but once it reaches the right strength, it is sent to a collection vessel.  The spirit is then put into casks to be aged for many years, where the true subtle magic occurs.  Everything contributes to the taste of scotch - the handling (drying) of the barley prior to being put into the broth, the water, and the specific casks that are used to store it for many years.

So, during the tour, we got to taste some under matured scotch.  It did not taste very good.  Then, at the end of the tour, we got to taste 14 year old Oban.  It had improved immensely.

We bought the three pack of Lavavulin, Cragganmore and  Talisker and set out to test them on the basis of the cool new chart that we were provided with at the Oban distillery:

And, when we tasted the Lagavulin, we understood what "smoky" meant.  We REALLY understood "smoky".  It was kind of like, and don't take this the wrong way, but it was kind of like drinking very good scotch out of a well used ashtray.  I was fascinated.  Others that I was with who tried it, were much less fascinated.  We ended up not finishing that small bottle, and I still have some.  While I liked the Cragganmore and Talisker much better, I could not decide which I liked better, or now even remember what each was like.  I had no foundation at all.

So not much changed in my exploration, but I had moved slightly along the path.  Very slightly.  But it was progress.

I also asked people along the way, for their opinions on "the best single malt".  "If you had to live on an island for a year, and could bring just one mainstream bottle, what would you take".  As I stated previously, I got a lot of different answers.  But the Macallan, and Laphroaig came up regularly.

I had tried Laphroaig, a small shot, while on a boat, and wasn't able to really form an opinion about it, so, just before leaving, I went to the Whiskey Shop, where there was a self proclaimed whiskey expert, and decided to pick up a bottle of Macallan as the one that I would take home.  I went for the Macallan gold, without any idea of what the gold meant, except that gold should be good....plus it had free cuff links!  Anyways, I was standing at the counter, with my bottle of "Gold" in hand, and along came the whiskey expert.  I posed my question:  "If you had to live on an island for a year, and could bring just one mainstream bottle, what would you take?"  "Oh, I don't know.  There are so many.  Everyone has different tastes.  It would be hard to say"  Then he looked at my bottle of Macallan GOLD and said with deadly seriousness.... "But it certainly would not be THAT"

I bought it anyway.

Where the world turned upside down and then went sideways, was when I finally got home and tried the only real bottle of Scotch that I brought back, which I will write about next.