Macallan 12 Double Cask 40%
Region: Speyside
ABV: 40%
E150: Yes
Chill-filtered: Yes
Cask Type: ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry.
Colour: Gold
Nose: Rich stewed red fruits, raisin, plum, bosc pear, icing sugar, soft oak, touch of mineral and wax.
Palate: Syrup, red grape, honey, malt, sugar, oak, cereal, pepper, baking spice.
Finish: Medium+ finish, ginger, pepper, caramel.
Score: 81/100
I went into this dram with very low expectation, since recent years we’ve been drowned with crappy NAS expression that I didn’t even bother writing up the review, despite trying everything from the Amber to Rare Cask. Here in America-Lite (Canada), we get the 40% expression instead of the 43% of our neighboring country.
Anyway, the 12 Year Double Cask performed surprisingly well. As I’ve been drinking mostly cask strength releases lately, and slowly tightening my scoring after trying more higher-end drams than I have previously. I expect this to be another watery release that I’ve come to expect from a 40%.
The nose is sherry dominant, fairly rich, full of stewed fruits, raisins notes that you expect from a sherry influenced whisky, with a touch of bourbon cask influence. Promising so far. The palate is also a big surprise, syrupy, the bourbon cask is showing more of its strength here, leading up to a spicy finish.
This is by no means very complex, but overall as a package is rather satisfying, crowd pleasing dram.
Macallan Cask Strength 58.4%
Region: Speyside
ABV: 58.4%
E150: No
Chill-filtered: No
Container: Spiegelau Whisky Snifter
Colour:Mahogany
Nose: Sharp ethanol, rich stewed red fruits, walnuts, biscuit, raisins, milk chocolate, candied orange, strawberry, plum.
Palate: Raisins, cinnamon, ginger, orange, red fruit jam, toffee, stewed plums.
Finish: Long finish, lingering cinnamon, ginger, strawberry, oak, and oak tannins.
Score: 89/100
The Macallan CS is an exceptional sherry bomb, which I think was last sold for about $80CAD which would be a steal. It’s a tad pungent on the nose, and a tad too hot for 58.4% on the palate. But it’s complex with waves of red fruits, and nutty chocolate notes on the nose. Part from the usual red fruits, it’s also loaded with spices, especially ginger, with a drying finish.
Can’t imagine this is the same distillery that bottles such amazing whisky, but at the same time introduce us with tier not-good-at-all colour series. This leaves me wanting to try out some older Macallan Single Casks.