This is in my opinion the absolute best whiskey I have had to date. I understand the price point compared to other brands doesn’t do its justice to a lot of others but to me, Macallan makes the best whiskey.
A lot of people are commenting on Macallan being overpriced as if this is news to anyone. Macallan is always going to be at least 50% more expensive than other comparable brands simply because it’s a Macallan. The same principle applies to brands such as Rolex. Macallan is not trying to appeal to the mass market because they have been established for many many years already. That being said they still have a fantastic spirit and are highly collectible so the price is irrelevant in that regard.
Rolex is better then 9 of the 10 other high end brand watches, all rolex are chronomasters and almost selfmade, while the same priced other watches not. I was once looked for a rolex daytona when i see the hourwork was not from them but from zenith, since then i have an Zenith Chronomaster moon. I agree that maccallan is overpriced, i have tried some and i like them, but there are better on the market.
It's 50% more for similar age, but in terms of quality is not that much. A 12 yo can in fact be better than many 15 yo. I have 12 yo triple cask vs the 15 yo green label and the Macallan is better for about $20 more.
We had one of these up against a Glendronach 18yo at our whisky club. The Macallan was the better dram but the Glendronach was much better value for money and a great dram too. For us the Glendronach was $200 australian and the Macallan $500 but the Macallan wasn't 2.5 times better than the Glendronach. I'd expect the sherry cask would be the same except 3.5 times the price of the Glendronach 18.
I'm pretty sure that the Port Charlotte OLC 01 is matured in butts that contained oloroso for some years and not merely seasoned. Actually looking forward to buy one of those
Actually whisky had never been matured in casks previously used to mature sherry. Sherry matures in virtualy inert casks which are used in bodegas for decades or even centuries. Those casks have always been extremely valluable asset for the bodega because of the followiing reasons: they are inert and don't impart any additional flavors/tanins to the wine and they have grown the particular yeast cultures (flor) that form the mold surface layer over the wine. Those casks are useless for maturing whisky in. In the past sherry bodegas use to export the matured sherry in casks made for the purpose and after those cask arrived in UK the wine got bottled or sold directly from the casks. The empty transport casks were adopted by whisky distilleries because they were cheap, available and fit for the purpose and were essentialy "seasoned" by the sherry. This practice took place until Spain decided to prohibit sherry export in cask and all the sherry gets bottled in Spain. Thus the constant supply of cheap transport sherry casks stopped. The whisky distilleries now order sherry casks made by specification which are deliberately seasoned with sherry for a period between 6 and 24 months. The great difference is not the seasoning itself but the fact that the sherry used is not a proper matured sherry but a relatively young wine which technicaly might not even allowed to be called sherry.
Instead of a ridiculously overpriced Macallan, I would rather get a Glendronach 18 Allardice, or Old Pulteney 18 or maybe an Arran 18... Much better bang for the buck.
I don’t know why everyone is complaining about the price.. just don’t buy it then. Macallan makes great whisky and they price it how they want. Make your own decisions...
I completely agree with you. They target a very specific market; the one who can afford it and is willing to pay the price. I still cant understand why people complain; just dnt buy it. It is my undertsanding that Macallan is very specific and hand pick their cask ans sent to Spain for seasoning hence the reason that adds cost to the final product.
It's hard to beat Lagavulin 16 because of how unique that taste is AND the price lol. It's also what I tell my wine friends who spend $750+ on red wine - I just can't justfiy $750 for ONE red wine when I can milk one bottle of Lagavulin 16 for a much, much longer period.
