We Taste Test & Rank All Four Expressions Of The Macallan's Flaghship Sherry Oak Collection: 12, 18, 25, 30 Years Old
The Macallan is well-known for its signature heavier, full-bodied Speyside spirit that is famously complimented by ex-sherry casks.
While the Double Oak series is, to a modern drinker, the most visible and accessible range from the distillery, the Sherry Oak Collection is arguably still the flagship Macallan range. It comes from a line that embodies the distillery’s historical association with European sherry oak casks for those signature dried fruit flavours and warm mahogany spirit.
Taking a brief look back into The Macallan’s pre-2010 catalogue, expressions were principally labelled simply as “The Macallan 18 Years Old”, usually with the distillation vintage. “Exclusively matured in selected sherry oak casks from Jerez” was originally a description on the label of how the whisky was matured, not the formal name of the whisky.
The labelling naturally evolved as The Macallan broadened the catalogued with lighter editions, first beginning with the Fine Oak Collection in 2004 which combined sherry cask whisky with lighter whisky matured in American ex-bourbon casks. That’s then followed by editions like the Double Cask in 2016 which features whisky matured in sherry-seasoned European oak with a substantial proportion of whisky from sherry-seasoned American oak.
In other words, The Macallan’s Sherry Oak Collection is and has always been the canonical Macallan range.
| Read our deep dive into The Macallan Distillery’s story here
The modern Sherry Oak Collection was rationalised during the 2018 redesign of The Macallan’s wider portfolio, which placed the 12, 18, 25 and 30 under a consistent Sherry Oak packaging.
The whisky is said to have been fully matured in sherry-seasoned oak commissioned by the distillery (rather than ex-bourbon oak), predominantly of from European oak casks with a minor proportion of American oak casks. While the distillery does not release exact ratios of the European-to-American oak make-up, a former distillery Master of Wood has once explained that the Sherry Oak is an “inverse” of the Double Cask – American oak is more prominent in the Double Cask, while European oak exerts the predominant influence in the Sherry Oak Collection.
Let’s give this full range a taste.
Whisky Review: The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 Years Old, 40% ABV
Tasting Notes
Colour: Deep amber.
Aroma: Decadent, polished and unmistakably sherried, richer the age lets on! Opening with raisins, prunes and dates mixed in warm brown sugar and honey. Backed by festive spices - cinnamon and clove with a little nutmeg and ginger. A confectionary weight of buttery toffee and malted chocolate, with cocoa powder dusted over. Orange marmalade lifting the fruit. Very restrained old leathery quality, autumn leaves and a touch of tobacco.
Taste: Medium-bodied with a soft rounded sweetness. Dried fruits carry straight over from the nose, raisins and dates with figs and prunes, now sitting inside something closer to a baked fruitcake and a warm bready sweetness. Brown sugar and molasses underneath. Buttery and lightly oily, with a structured spiced middle of cinnamon, clove, ginger and a crack of black pepper. The oak spice gradually gets more apparent here than on the nose. Indistinct walnut, cocoa and a lightly charred woodiness.
Finish: Medium in length, easing off warmly. Ginger and clove over cinnamon with a black pepper. Dark chocolate and liquorice root drying out gently on European oak influenced tones. Orange peels and baking spice in the background.
My Thoughts
A polished and immediately recognisable sherried malt in The Macallan's house style.
Compared to a non-sherried malt from The Macallan of the same age, this appears to emphasise more spice, more tannic structure and that slightly leathery, furniture-polish depth, while it trades away the bright vanilla-led sweetness in favour of more dried fruit and European oak-driven tones, the orange peels, the chocolate, the run of festive spice. What comes out is a sherried whisky with some depth and bitterness that isn’t simply sweet.
The aromas are pretty generous at 40%, ABV with the flavours clearly drawn out, the sweetness and bitterness in good balance.
Whisky Review: The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old, 43% ABV
Tasting Notes
Colour: Maple syrup.
Aroma: Rich, rounded, slightly darker with more wood-polished tones here. Prunes and black cherries on top, joined by a full run of dark berries, blackberries and raspberries with a slight tartness. Some citrussy brightness - yuzu marmalade and dried mandarin peel - that turns pithy and bitter at its edges with a light Earl Grey tea tone. Backed up by toffee and butterscotch, Lotus caramel biscuits and indistinct baking spices, dark chocolate and espresso. There’s perhaps a slightly musty touch of polished antique wood, leather, old tobacco and turned earth.
Taste: Medium-bodied, silky and noticeably oilier. Stewed dark fruits fill the centre with prunes , dark cherries and blackberries, and then orange marmalade. Chocolate and espresso leading into butterscotch and some caramel biscuit sweetness, with molasses running through. Spices are present here even as the overall structure is noticeably more rounded, showing candied ginger with cinnamon and nutmeg. Tannins lead us into a fine sandalwood drying line towards the finish beneath the fruit.
Finish: Medium length. Honey, applesauce, milk chocolate, coffee and warm cinnamon. Stewed fruit sweetness and mandarin peels gradually fading. Gentle wood spice lingering.
My Thoughts
Still very luscious and honeyed as it starts to step into darker and more matured territory. The dried fruit can be seen to be developing into stewed fruits while milk chocolate begins to turn into bitter dark chocolate and espresso. Tannins are showing up but they remain soft and moderated by the luscious honeyed core, showing up as a light Earl Grey rather a darker stepped tea character. There’s also now more refined tertiary notes of polished antique wood, leather, old tobacco and turned earth.
This one’s a solid Macallan worthy of unhurried sipping by itself.
Whisky Review: The Macallan Sherry Oak 25 Years Old, 43% ABV
Tasting Notes
Colour: Chestnut.
Aroma: Generous. Concentrated raisins, figs, plums and cherries all cooked down towards jam. Orange oil and flamed peel. Cinnamon and milled wine spice pulls the profile towards something like Christmas cake. A base of freshly baked glazed buns, cocoa powder then sweet oak and more rustic woodiness; cedar, polished mahogany, leather and tobacco ribbons, dark honey cake and unsmoked lapsang souchong. A hint of dried longans and cocoa.
Taste: Medium-bodied, silky and oily without adding weight, and a little more restrained here than the nose have you expect. Orchard fruit led - stewed apples, peaches and dates at the core, turning to dried lavender, toasted vanilla, gingerbread, and cinnamon. A slightly herbaceous sweetness underneath, similar to a sweet Chinese herbal soup. What’s left of the berries from the younger expressions comes expressed as tart hawthorn and blueberry bush. Dry but beautifully aromatic European oak spices, ginger, sandalwood and coconut flakes.
Finish: Long and warming. Slight savoury rancio tones in a sweet sherried residue. Exotic wood and spices subside to leave dark chocolate and stewed fruits that are slow to leave.
My Thoughts
Deeply aromatic, layered and complex. This is unquestionably a more matured whisky than the 18-year-old, though it brings more refinement than intensity to the table.
The jammy fruits and exotic wood present in such evocative definition, and whereas the 18 shows a nice depth, the 25 takes us to a beautiful integration of the disparate dimensions – the concentrated raisins, orange oil, antique wood and Christmassy spices. The nose definitely impresses with its extravagance while showing maturity and refinement with those rustic wood qualities (cedar, mahogany). The palate demonstrates deft restraint and elegance, offering well-integrated notes of stewed fruits, mulled wine, spices and a touch of dried florals.
Whisky Review: The Macallan Sherry Oak 30 Years Old, 43% ABV
Tasting Notes
Colour: Mahogany.
Aroma: Complex and perfumery, with a remarkably dried floral-led profile. Opens with old oak, dried orange, menthol, then chamomile, dried rose petals and sweet lavender top notes that carry through the aroma. Soft stone fruits and honey; tinned peaches, plums, poached pears and slightly oxidized persimmon. As it develops, dried raisins, dates and vanilla gather into something like a fruitcake. There’re also coffee, toffee and chocolate notes though slightly subtler than they are in the earlier expressions, leaving room for the delicate florals to show. Just a touch of wax, leather and roasted walnuts. With time it turns more floral while fruit gains in sweetness.
Taste: Medium-bodied, with a lightly oily texture and an interestingly delicate profile. Opening with fresh cherries and honey, toffee and an orange-laced chocolate, the familiar persimmon sweetness carrying over from the nose. Vanilla, dried apple chips with a waxy, faintly tarry thread underneath with a background of cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Spice and wood-resinous qualities appear to have been significantly mellowed here, leaving us mainly with smooth cacao, toasted coconut flakes and dried lavender.
Finish: Long and floral. It offers a bit more structure than the palate. The tannins are present but deftly integrated - sweet oak, sandalwood and caramel holding orange-laced chocolate comes back. Cinnamon and cloves trailing into some polished wood. More floral sweetness, I’m getting lavender-and-rose Pierre Hermé macarons, marzipan and light pastry. Wood and floral sweetness lingering.
My Thoughts
Subtlety and elegance is the name of the game here. While the 18 and 25 demonstrate more complexity and depth supplied by the oak, I believe the 30-year-old demonstrates the mellowing effect of longer maturation. As much as some might frown at the use of this beginner drinker term, this has to be amongst the “smoothest” Macallan I’ve had the chance to taste, even as it’s accompanied by underlying exotic floral and oak complexity supplied by the sherry oak casks. There are also momentary flashes of old sherried Scotch greatness on the nose and in the far end of the finish.
@CharsiuCharlie
