| In the world of scotch, Macallan's is best known for aging all of their whisky in dry oloroso sherry casks. This gives Macallan's a distinctive colour and wonderful caramel and spice flavours. The result is an easily approachable scotch and earns Macallan's the title of "the Rolls Royce of single malts."
However, one school of thought would call such a gentle scotch boring. The argument is that, since peat smoke is the essence of scotch, more peaty scotches are more "scotchy." Nonsense. People who like peaty scotches always seem to make it part of their identity, just as people who like spicy food always need to boast about how spicy they like things.
The other school of thought – the one that doesn't need to puff out its chest in a show of bravado – holds that anything you eat or drink should be balanced. And Macallan's has better balance than any of the Flying Wallendas.
But if you insist that your scotch must be "interesting," Macallan's now has something to offer you. The Macallan Travel Series is a set of four reproductions of Macallan's scotch, each representing how Macallan's would have tasted in the 1920s, ’30s, ’40s and ’50s. Each bottle of the Travel Series is available individually in 500 ml bottles for approximately $40 at better Calgary liquor merchants.
My initial fear was that the series would be all hype, but in fact each scotch proved to be incredibly enjoyable. You don't have to take my word for it: famed scotch writer Michael Jackson (no, not that Michael Jackson) rates them each between 93 and 95, making them some of the highest-rated scotches available.
· 1920s – In the ’20s, scotch not sold to blenders was left in casks longer, resulting in a single malt that was drier with less toffee flavour. The presence of peat is gentle, though it is more prevalent than in the current Macallan’s scotch. There is a general grainy presence and a hint of vegetal flavour. Having been left in the cask longer, the colour is darker than any other bottle in the Travel Series.
· 1930s – Coal was in short supply in the ’30s, so malted barley was dried using more peat. In addition, oak sherry casks were in short supply due to the Spanish Civil War, so casks were re-used more often. The result was a peatier and less spicy version of Macallan’s with less colour. While the presence of peat smoke is obvious in this version of the scotch, I also detected a hint of charcoal smoke. Still, the scotch is very soft, although it has less caramel than present-day Macallan’s.
· 1940s – The ’40s version of Macallan’s was similar to that of the ’30s. As the Spanish Civil War ended, the Second World War started, and this kept sherry casks in short supply. Coal was diverted to the war effort, so peat continued to be the primary source of heat used in the malting process. Toffee is present, although not as much as one would typically expect of Macallan’s. In addition, I pick up an interesting hint of watercress, the scotch being remarkably crisp and fresh.
· 1950s – As the war ended, and the supply of sherry casks returned to desired levels, Macallan’s returned to using each cask only twice. This resulted in a scotch similar to Macallan's present offerings. It has a bigger nose and is generally more robust and full-bodied. As with today’s Macallan's, the scotch is wonderfully balanced, which is a difficult task when there are so many flavours to juggle. Present-day Macallan's is one of my favourite scotches and I find the ’50s version of the Travel Series is a comfortable way to bring yourself home. |
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