ALCHEMIST Macallan 15 Year Old 70cl Bottle

39The Rolls Royce of single malts39 is a label often bestowed upon this persistent winner of competitions. This bottling is exemplary and is deep gold in colour, with abundant aromas of sweet sherry and toffee. The flavours of rich dried fruit and sweet oak give a full, rounded and plump mouthfeel followed by a long, smooth and beguiling finish. First class plus. From its unusually small stills to its traditional insistence upon sherry ageing always in dry oloroso casks, shipped unbroken from Spain. Macallan is a purposefully traditionalist distillery. There has probably been whisky made on the Macallan site, since the late 1700s. With the first licensed distillation at Macallan is said to have taken place in the earliest days of legalised production, in 1824. In 1892 the business came into the hands of the family who still manage Macallan and have a major share in the company. Macallan went public in 1966 8 and was thus able to finance the laying down of large stocks of whisky for maturation and a decade of expansion. Each extension involved the building of a new still house so that the company could increase production without altering the size of its stills. The Macallan was launched nationally in Britain in 1980. From its humble beginnings it has grown into a superstar both in volume and reputation, and has a die hard bunch of fans who collect the multitude of bottlings. Recently Macallan shifted from its 39Olorosso Sherry Casks only39 policy to offer a very well received range of bottlings using a mixture of Bourbon and Sherry casks which some say makes it more approachable.