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Part of The 1824 Collection, The Macallan Estate Reserve is as classic as The Macallan gets. Lavish and intensely aromatic. With an all-natural dark amber color, this was once part of the limited Travel Retail selection, but it’s worth seeking out. Balanced between dark malt aromas, fruit, and spices, this is a benchmark Speyside dram.
Be prepared for an amped-up nose of berries, leather, dark chocolate, and Oloroso cask spices: cinnamon, clove, and vanilla with a slight smoke and chocolate undertone. The Sherry-seasoned hogshead casks really elevate an already deep malt mixed with a small proportion of barley.
A swooning palate marked by depth of flavors brings forward dried and black fruits covered with dark chocolate and tanned leather scents. Muscular and stratified, there immense pleasure in the palate as the dram unfolds in the back palate to reveal cedar, smoke, and baking spices.
Cinnamon, clove, and pink peppercorns together with cedarwood and pitted smoke permeate the aftertaste to bring forward a dried orange peel note for a long finish of great intensity.
Whisky Maker, Sarah Burgess, shares her unique take on the house cask blend for a plentiful and luscious malt, an homage to the Macallan’s Estate. Even at $250, this is a superb value showing the dark side of the Speyside distillery.
The Macallan Estate Reserve reminds us very much to The Macallan Double Cask 18 Years Old, for the fruit and the spice, but the Estate Reserve is syrupy and more solid. Unique malts showing the rough Scottish side. Strength and intensity trumps finesse in this one.
