Macallan 40 Years Old
2016 Release
Macallan 40 Years Old
In the spring of 2006, The Macallan Master Whisky Maker, Bob Dalgarno, and his team were meticulously crafting the annual release of The Macallan 30 Years Old Sherry Oak. A total of 27 sherry-seasoned oak casks had been carefully selected from 9 different years of distillation and laid down to mature.
To begin the marrying stage – a significantly time-consuming element of the whisky-making approach adopted by The Macallan – most of the precious spirit from the 27 casks were combined and then filled into nine marrying casks at the customary marrying strength. But the instinct of the Master Whisky Maker led to a tenth cask being filled and laid back down. Already matured for three decades, the whisky in this refill butt was kept at its natural strength.
When it reached 35 years of age in 2011 it was assessed again, and a conscious decision was made to allow the whisky to continue to mature and develop character. Finally, at 40 years of age, the time had come. This additional decade of careful maturation through to 2016 has produced a superlative and distinct single malt to add to the collection of rich, mature expressions from The Macallan. The resulting whisky, which is only the second ever non-vintage release of a 40 years old expression, is definitively The Macallan.
Founded in 1824 by Alexander Reid, the Elchies Distillery as it was known initially, did not become the Macallan-Glenlivet in name until 1892. Since then, it has undergone massive expansion with Edrington and William Grant & Sons combining forces in 1999 to purchase Highland Distillers for £601 million. By then, the reputation of the distillery for its sherry-led style of whisky was already firmly in place. The new ownership model has enabled the distillery to produce new ranges, reach out to new demographics and establish itself as an international brand of quality. Bottles are Macallan are increasingly sought after for their commodity value and not the contents, which often are of high quality. Moving to a new distillery site in recent years, will in the long-term, allow Macallan to produce more and if needed, the old distillery sits idle despite being capable of producing 11 million litres before it closed in 2018.
