The Modern Gent’s Macallan 18

Style: Single Malt² Scotch
Age: 18 Years
Alcohol: 43% abv.
Produced at: Macallan Distillery
Region: Scotland (Speyside)
Distillery Master: Bob Dalgarno
Cost: ~$120-$180

SOME FACTS:

• The Macallan Distillery is owned by the Edrington Group, who also owns whisky brands such as Highland Park, The Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark.
• Easter Elchies House, built in 1700, lies at the heart of The Macallan estate. It was built for Captain John Grant, whose grandson eventually leases 8acres of land to Alexander Reid, the farmer who founded the Macallan Distillery in 1824. Reid was a barley farmer and school teacher. To learn more, click here.
• The name “Macallan” is most likely derived from two Gaelic words -‘Magh’ meaning a fertile piece of ground and ‘Ellan’, meaning ‘of St Fillan’, an Irish born monk who traveled widely in Scotland spreading Christianity during the eighth century.
• Of Macallan’s 6 Pillars, two of them are: Curiously Small Stills³ — contribute to the distinctively rich, fruity ‘new make’ spirit of The Macallan; and Finest Cut — Macallan take only 16% of the final distillation from the spirit stills to fill into their oak casks.
• Originally, The Macallan was matured only in oak sherry casks brought to the distillery from Jerez, Spain. Beginning in 2004, The Macallan introduced a new main product, the Fine Oak series, with the whisky mellowed in bourbon oak casks as well as sherry ones.
• The oldest Macallan bottle held in the distillery archives is from 1841.
• In 2007, a bottle of 1926 Macallan was sold at a Christie’s auction for $54,000, making it one of the most expensive bottles of liquor ever sold.
• In 2010, a bottle of The Macallan 64-year-old single malt whisky in a one-of-a-kind “Lalique: Cire Perdue” crystal decanter was sold for $460,000 at an auction at Sotheby’s in New York City.
• In the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall, Bond and Silva are seen toasting (“To the women we love”) with “50-year-old Macallan,” a reference to the Bond franchise’s 50th anniversary. “The Macallan” is also thanked in the end credits for Skyfall.
• In 2014, a decanter of Macallan’s ‘M’ whisky sold at auction in Hong Kong for a record breaking $628,205.

SOME WHISK(E)Y TERMS DEFINED:

1. Whisky vs. whiskey: Both spellings are correct. The difference is primarily due to geography. “Whisky” is primarily used in: Canada, Japan, Scotland, England, and Wales. “Whiskey” is primarily used in Ireland and the United States. For more info, click here.
2. Single malt (type): Single malt whisky is a whisky made at one distillery from a mash that uses only malted grain, usually barley. Malting (process):  The grains (e.g. barley) are made to germinate by soaking in water, and are then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. The resulting dried germinated cereal grains are called “malt.”
3. Pot still (distillation equipment): A pot still is a type of still used in distilling spirits such as whisky. Heat is applied directly to the pot containing the wash, which is liquid produced by the fermentation step and the input to the distillation process. Once the wash goes through the pot still several times, the resulting condensed alcohol is what goes into the oak barrels for maturation.