The Auld Alliance

SPEYSIDE

Big, sherried, floral and fruity. Massively flavourful, and well suited to after-dinner drinking.

A real heavyweight of a malt - in all its forms. Macallan is now regarded as the benchmark for big, brooding sherry-cask matured Speyside malts. The distillery was first granted a licence to produce in 1824.

Originally called Elchies Distillery and then renamed Macallan after the church that the distillery was rebuilt on in 1892. The stills used are also among the smallest in Scotland after Edradour, and they number fourteen, all of them slightly different. Macallan try to use as much Golden Promise Barley as they can. In terms of flavour this is regarded as the best quality barley around for producing spirit, however it only produces small yields and is relatively expensive.

Macallan was famous for maturing Oloroso sherry casks, but recently released a Fine Oak range, which includes Macallan matured in American Oak casks. Famously collectible, Macallan bottlings spent much of the past 10 years breaking the record for the world's most expensive bottle, only to have it snatched from them recently by a Dalmore.