• Macallan Oscuro with Lalique Kazak Horse
  • Macallan Oscuro with Lalique Kazak Horse

Macallan Oscuro with Lalique Kazak Horse

$5,950 AUD

 

46.5% 70cl

This was a special limited release with the Lalique crystal Kazak horse.

 The Oscuro was drawn exclusively from ex-sherry casks from the batch distilled between 1987 and 1997, with a high proportion of the casks being first-fills, resulting in a very heavy sherry influence, most notably its wonderfully deep burnish colour, hence the name "Oscuro", which, as we all know, means "dark" in Spanish.

The maturation of this expression involves thinning down the cask strength whiskies with spring water to its optimal 46.5% ABV, more than six months before bottling, allowing the spring water to slowly marry into the eau de vie and perfectly harmonise with the character of the butts.

 Launched in 2010, this was originally the premium offering from the Macallan travel retail 1824 Collection, not to be confused with the other 1824 series that they marketed between 2012-2018. The travel retail bottles were replaced with the Quest Collection in 2017, the Oscuro however was retained.

This version of the product was sold between 2010 and 2015 when its packaging was given a redesign.

This was the 'No Age Statement' category runner-up in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2011 collecting 95.5 points.

This product is located in the United Kingdom.

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.

Other Macallan Whiskies