The Macallan Estate Reserve - What Was Old is New Again

The Macallan Estate whisky is made from barley grown on the property. Where barely is grown, and the type of barley grown, matters. From their website:

The Macallan Estate is the Whisky Maker’s tribute to our heritage and home. It is an extremely special new single malt containing rare spirit from a proportion of the barley grown at Easter Elchies estate, which is distilled just once a year over the course of a single week. Created by Whisky Maker Sarah Burgess, The Macallan Estate is a celebration of the single malt’s peerless provenance and heritage. 

The 485-acre Easter Elchies estate is set within the legendary Speyside region of Scotland, where The Macallan has been creating extraordinary single malts since 1824. Its carefully tended barley fields are located on the banks of the River Spey, overlooked by The Macallan’s new award-winning distillery.

While Forbes calls The Macallan Estate the whisky that you can actually afford, I wouldn’t go that far. At over $250 US, it is my absolute favorite of the core range. And, probably, beyond. It’s a calming whisky. It slows down on the palate, and has this nice subtle vibe going that I can really get into. Time slows down when you drink this, and that’s a beautiful thing.

While The Macallan provided me a sample, I purchased a bottle when it became available in our market here in Ontario. It’s terrific. 

The Macallan Estate Reserve 2019
Category: NAS, Single Malt Scotch
Score: Become a Patron

Nose: Rich cinnamon pastry. Buttery. Sweet. There’s a nice element of oak spice wafting in the background. The orange citrus note is quite present, and concentrated. Chocolaty. It’s quite the nose!

Palate: Deceptively gentle palate, but it’s hefty with a buttery weight. Cinnamon, dusting of powdered sugar, nice gentle oak spice (it’s not firm enough to be pepper, more reminiscent of salt), and that orange citrus found on the nose.

Conclusion: I’ve been drinking a lot of hard hitting scotches of late. This one slows me right down. It’s a gentle pour with plenty of flavour, that you have late at night after a long day. It his that mark perfectly.