Experience The Macallan Mastery With The Story "Cask and Colour"

The Macallan concluded its highly anticipated “Toast the Macallan” event with a series of exclusive tasting rendezvous co-hosted by wine and spirits in Hong Kong recently. This year two of The Macallan’s greatest and most defining strengths, “Cask and Colour”, underpinned the theme of its experiential consumer encounter, whilst The Macallan led whisky explorers and enthusiasts on series of master classes to highlight the defining elements of its making and a journey of single malt whisky appreciation over a period of 4 days.

Founded in the year of 1824 in the heart of Speyside, The Macallan is one of the first distilleries in Scotland to be legally licensed.  The creation of The Macallan draws on the vital contributing influences of Spain, North America and Scotland, and of their respective natural raw materials, combined with traditions and craftsmanship.

From its founding, through the subsequent owners of The Macallan distillery in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries into the present century, The Macallan has been recognised for its outstanding quality above all else.  Today it remains the foundation for the worldwide fame of The Macallan.  This peerless reputation has been built by the commitment of The Masters of Spirit and Wood, those craftsmen at the heart of The Macallan for almost 200 years. 

  

The Macallan is defined by wood; from every acorn planted to the handcrafting of every oak cask, culminating in meticulous cask selection.

The Macallan commitment to wood is clearly evident, from a dedicated Master of Wood who oversees the intricate sourcing, seasoning and production process from Spain, an investment unmatched in the industry, to the nurture and protection our casks and their precious contents by a committed team of warehousemen.

Collectively these elements are testament to the pivotal role wood plays in its story but also every step of the whisky making - the time, the attention to details, the expertise, the quality and the passion. Bob Dalgarno, The Macallan’s Master Whisky Maker, said, “Around 80% of the character of The Macallan is derived from the oak cask in which it ages. Each individual cask and cask style imparts a specific influence on the whisky; each brings a different and distinctive character. So the idea was to explore more intricately how each cask style could influence the whisky and yet work well together in harmony.”

An exciting tasting journey to explore the heritage, tradition and the vital elements that influence the style and character of The Macallan under the theme of “Cask and colour”, namely to deconstruct what defined a single malt and how it should be appreciated. Patrons were guided through a scholarly tasting experience of some of the iconic expressions of The Macallan including the Rare Cask as well as the latest introduction, Edition No.1.

The Macallan Edition No. 1 is drawn from eight European and American oak cask styles selected by our Master Whisky Maker whose unusual spectrum of selected casks for Edition No. 1 demonstrates the art of whisky making at its finest. This selection tells a powerful story with many storylines and characters. Beginning with the provenance of the oak then to the expert crafting of the cask, the seasoning and the size, it is these diverse components which lead up to the final selection of the casks which ultimately shape the final whisky.   Each year, a special selection of oak casks will be handpicked to create the “Edition” series, inspired by Macallan lovers from around the world.

Rare Cask is the most diverse and intricate Macallan whisky; a reinterpretation of the classic profile achieved through the widest palette of cask styles. The 16 cask profiles tell the wood story of The Macallan. From different wood species, namely Spanish and American oak, different cask manufacturers including Tevasa, Vasyma and Hudosa, different bodegas including Gonzalez Byass and Williams and Humbert to different casks sizes including puncheons, butts and hogsheads, these factors come together to define the complexity in diversity of a single malt.