Macallan 1861 Replica Single Malt

Macallan 1861 Replica Single Malt

$1,600 AUD

42.7% ABV 70 cl

This is the second in a series of controversial replica bottlings of Macallan from the distillery. Whatever the provenance of the bottles that were replicated, the whisky is highly regarded. This one appeared in 2002.

In the words of the company itself: "The Macallan 1861 has been created as a replica of the style, nose and flavour of an original bottle of The Macallan, distilled in 1861."

The Macallan Distillers Ltd acquired a very rare bottle of the Macallan 1861 from a private collection in 1998, and presented Bob Dalgarno, whisky maker, with the challenge of replicating it. They drew a tiny sample from the bottle and together with his team of expert nosers, began searching for whisky which matched the profile. As well as replicating the whisky they were determined to recreate the 1861 bottle and labels. The challenge for Stolzle Flaconnage was to reproduce the idiosyncratic irregularities of a mid 19th century mouth blown bottle with 21st century technology. To reconstruct the labels, calligrapher, Carol Kemp, re-drew the individual letters while illustrator Brian Taylor reproduced the sketch.

This example has no box.

Tasting Notes

Nose: Smells like the spice cupboard really, a little ginger and cinnamon and some sharper ones like cumin and chilly but somehow still rather sweet

Palate: Some peat and still more spices. lovely bit of summer fruit. 

Finish: Long, dry, warming and soothing.  (The Really Good Whisky Company)

This product is located in Australia.

Distillery

Macallan Distillery

This is the ne plus ultra in Speyside malt whiskies and has set a standard to which many aspire but few succeed.

Sadly, when Alfred Barnard visited the distillery in 1886 he was so unimpressed by it that he dismissed it in seven lines of what was a very heavy tome. Or perhaps he was simply shown the door in the mistaken belief that he was just another carpetbagger from the South! 

This was in sharp contrast to the warmth of the welcome I received when I retraced Barnard’s footsteps 100 years later to be the guest of two of Scotland’s whisky legends – Willie Phillips as managing director and Sandy Curle, the distiller-in- chief at Macallan since 1972. 

Despite Barnard’s neglect, Macallan has a rich history and much of it is recorded in some detail. It is also reflected in how the company has projected itself, not least by representing some of their excellent products against a suitable historic backdrop. Legitimate from 1824 onwards but almost certainly with a darker earlier history, Macallan is a wonderful fusion of tradition and modernity. The latter is reflected in the decision to build a completely new distillery, which went into production in 2017.  We all wait with baited breath to see if it will be a match for its forerunner and it will be a long wait given Macallan’s policy on maturation. However, there is plenty of maturing stock to ensure that interest in, and devotion to the Macallan make does not waiver in the meantime.

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