It’s always with a bit of trepidation we approach these Macallans. Like many of you, I’ve had oodles of great old Macallans through the years and still hope for some sort of ‘spiritual renaissance’. The clock keeps ticking, however, and those beautiful old sherry casks seem to be a thing of memory and rue at this point. I’m not sure what that situation looks like from the inner circle at Mac HQ, but from an outside point-of-view, it hasn’t really seemed to knock the lustre off Macallan’s luxury status. They’re a brand more than a whisky these days anyway, aye? And if we’re being entirely honest, it’s hard not to feel like they’re coasting on a reputation more than a product. Anyway… Macallan:

Macallan Sherry Oak 12 yo
2022
43% abv
Nose: No doubting the lineage here; super goopy; the lovechild of a chocolate menage a trois between Milk Duds, Whoppers, and Cherry Cordials; Licorice All Sorts; Lamp oil; some sort of spiced rum raisin dessert; a whiff of sour milk. Palate: Chocolate and jam; raisins in trifle; Sugar Crisp meets Coffee Crisp; weighty Macallan stylings played through a child’s stereo. Finish: A lingering mingling of cinnamon; vanilla; cherry cough syrup; copper; dandelion greens in fudge. Thoughts: Quite good; can’t lie. 85/100

Macallan Sherry Oak 18 yo
2023 Edition
43% abv
Nose: Neat, kinda a mashup of old and new school (30/70 ratio, maybe?); gingerbread; mulling spices; candied orange peel; marzipan; licorice; coriander. Palate: Sharp and modern now, with just a wee bit of that echoing old school charm; cinnamon; Cognac; a hint of rose; macarons; burnt jam; again…definitely Macallan DNA, so it’s a ‘true’ one; too much wood, though, makes it kinda top-heavy; feels very ‘wet fill’-esque. Finish: cinnamon; marzipan; orange; then the tannins sink their fangs in. Thoughts: I get the sneaking feeling that a mediocre (sub-par, even, perhaps) cask or two got stirred into the mix. I can’t help but wonder what anyone is thinking when they lay down $850ca for this one. I also don’t understand how something can seem both slathered in goopy caramel and at the same time, wafer-thin. Nae bad, nae great. 83.5/100

(CR)