Well, the last two cask strength Macallans I had (both from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society) were both excellent. Ultimate sherry bombs rich in both sweet and savory sherry textures. I have been hoarding my last bottle, "In a Tapas Bar," which was part of this same revatting project, where they take a large amount of 10 year Macallan sherry-matured scotch and apply a variety of different sherry cask finishes.
The last bottle was finished in a first fill Pedro Ximenez cask, and was just completely outstanding. On the strength of that experience, I bought two bottles from the latest distillery deep dive into Macallan - both are finished in first-fill Oloroso. Here are the official notes:
A powerhouse aroma full of beef jerky spiced with black pepper, blood orange squeezed over burnt brisket ends, cranberry reduction, venison salami, herbal cough medicines, natural tar and juniper. With water we found plums baked with green chartreuse, walnuts toasted in oil, caraway, mincemeat, petrichor and dank, leathery dunnage. The palate was full-on and fantastically deep with spiced fig chutney, metal polish, beef stock, smoked dark chocolate, mole sauce, spiced marzipan, walnut oil and cinnamon bark. Reduction brought balsamic reduction drizzled over raspberries, maraschino juices, cured game meats, bitter chocolate and red liquorice. At ten years of age, we combined selected oloroso butts from this distillery into a variety of different casks. This first fill Spanish oloroso hogshead is one of those casks.
Sounds excellent - I am particularly drawn to blood orange, savory notes, cranberry, tar (!), and "dank" dunnage. Yes please, count me in.
Bottled at a fantastially high 63.4% ABV, let's get bombed in a wild sherry attack:
Nose: Wow, this is almost wildly fragrant on a first pour. Room-filled sherry scents, much like a strongly peated whisky can fill a room with smoke. They really aren't kidding about powerhouse aroma. Strong burnt citrus, spices (cinnamon, cloves), rich raisin-ous (or is that resinous?) brown sherry, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, dry-cured Ibirico ham, and gummy red wine residue. It's strong stuff on the nose. Almost a sticky scent, if that makes any sense.
With water, it gets a bit drier and more savory on the nose. Sausage links. More vinegar. Now I get hints of juniper. Molasses.
Mouthfeel: Thick and syrupy.
Palate: Damn, interesting. Not quite as rich or as deep as the nose, but instead very dry and muscular. Tons of nuts - walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts. Leather. Chocolate dust. Old wooden furniture. Mole sauce is right on the money. Burnt cherries. More spices on the back end. Just packed with dry sherry flavors.
With water, it gets somehow even drier. I get that "green chartreuse" note the official remarks mention. Spicy, nutty, and herbal with water. Brown sugar, furniture polish. All kinds of interesting red wine flavors here.
Finish: Quite a surprisingly long finish here. Spices, chocolate, figs, cherry stones, and oak. Old European oak.
Verdict: Well, I think I can safely say that cask strength Macallan is unique and somewhat monstrous stuff. It's SO intensely sherried that only people who really adore dry, powerful sherry will truly love this. It is emphatically not the sweet, raisin-y style you see in Glendronach or Glenfarclas. It's much closer to the spice-and-brown-sugar bombs that were the early editions of Aberlour A'bunadh.
It has all the hallmark dry sherry flavors - plums or prunes, cherries, balsamic, etc. - but all the background ones too, turned up to 11: pork, leather, tar, burnt citrus peel, nuts, walnuts, etc. It's a full constellation of sherry bomb flavors and as such it's not for the faint of heart, for sure. But still highly recommended as exemplary (and perhaps unique) for this style of ultra-sherried scotches.
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