The Macallan Double Cask series was first introduced in 2016. At that time, The Macallan already had two major stylistic poles. At one end was the Sherry Oak, representing the distillery's traditional profile associated primarily with ex-sherry European oak. At the other end was a lighter style under the Fine Oak series, which combined ex-sherry American and European oak with a good proportion of American ex-bourbon cask whisky.
The Double Cask occupies the space between "Sherry Oak" and "Fine Oak". It retains the essential Macallan proposition that the whisky is matured in sherry-seasoned casks, but uses a more prominent proportion of American oak to create a brighter and mellower profile - think vanilla, citrus, honey and fresh fruits. The distillery describes the Double Cask as a series that is intended to be fresh, more approachable and suitable for a wider range of occasions.
| Read our deep dive into The Macallan Distillery’s story here
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 range a taste.
Whisky Review: The Macallan 12 Years Old Double Cask, 40% ABV
Tasting Notes
Colour: Gold.
Aroma: Clean, forward, citrusy, It opens bright and lifted, fresh orange and golden apples with some lemon peel, closely followed by creamy confectionary, vanilla, caramel and fudge, underscored by malt sweetness and tea biscuits, custard spooned over warm pie crust. Beneath that we have some indistinct orchard sweetness of apricots and yellow peaches, running down the gradient into sultanas. A touch of cinnamon and cardamom.
Taste: Medium-bodied, it's rounded and creamy with a honeyed sweetness. Orange peels lead into more of those golden apples, before turning towards sultanas. Vanilla and minor notes of toffee, milk chocolate and burnt sugar. Nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and dry spice builds into the finish.
Finish: Medium in length, sweet citrus and vanilla fade into continued warm oak spices of cinnamon, clove and ginger.
My Thoughts
A bright and easy-going Macallan that leads with orchard fruits and citrus. Orange peels and apple that open the nose carry all the way through the palate, along with creamy vanilla and confectionary notes of caramel and fudge supplying roundness, complimented with classic Macallan oak spices of nutmeg and cinnamon.
The sherry-seasoned oak is doing some of the visible work here, supplying the vanilla, the honeyed citrus and that rounded creamy sweetness, but we’re seeing hints of emerging European oak notes in the sultanas and spices that arrive later on.
Whisky Review: The Macallan 15 Years Old Double Cask, 43% ABV
Tasting Notes
Colour: Deep gold.
Aroma: Deliberately richer, more well-layered and more dried fruit-forward, but still retaining lusciousness. Orchard fruits and sultanas from the earlier expression seem to have graduated into dried figs, dates and raisins, with a warming dry ginger running through them. Some stewed red fruits and plums, a softer orchard layer of baked apples, poached pears and apricots, backed up by toffee, honey and milk chocolate, with a touch of buttered pastry - a warm croissant sprinkled with powdered sugar. Some orange peels dipped in dark chocolate. With time, more cinnamon and nutmeg spice builds.
Taste: Medium-bodied, luscious and creamy. Orange marmalade presents itself first, candied orange peels and a scrape of lemon zest sitting over raisins and dried figs. It has a malty depth, a vanilla cream base developing into toffee, caramel fudge and milk chocolate with hazelnuts and fragrant oak. The spices come through warmer and drier as it goes, of candied ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper.
Finish: Medium in length, warm and honeyed. Continues with honey, dry spices, candied ginger-led and increasingly peppery, with fruit receding behind it. Toffee and nutmeg hold on over dry, fragrant oak. Some indistinct black tea tannins and toasted walnuts.
My Thoughts
This appears similar in weight to the 12, but it expresses richer and darker flavour notes while still retaining brightness and lusciousness. Orchard fruits and citrus have developed into a firmer dried and stewed fruit profile with a richer toffee, chocolate and buttered pastry influence. Put beside the heavier, European-oak-led Macallan style (a la Macallan Sherry Oak), this remains a brighter and creamier expression.
Whisky Review: The Macallan 18 Years Old Double Cask, 43% ABV
Tasting Notes
Colour: Amber.
Aroma: Rich, rounded and classically Macallan. Vanilla, rich maltiness and toasted marshmallow lead, then rock melons, golden apples, some apricots, raisins and plums gathered closely behind. Sweet European oak tones carrying cacao, steeped oolong tea and cinnamon, then leather, toast and a light espresso bitterness, with the spiced menthol and sandalwood. Cooling and faintly herbal.
Taste: Medium-plus mouthfeel. It opens on honey and golden apples, with then caramel, raisins, vanilla and milk chocolate filling in around them, and molasses running darker beneath them. Prominent European oak layers and spices holding firm. Toasted hazelnuts, cinnamon and nutmeg, candied orange peels with sandalwood and the rich sweetness of unsmoked Lapsang Souchong tea.
Finish: Long, warming, darker and slightly spiced. Christmas cake, dark chocolate tart with richer baking spices, cinnamon, candied ginger and anise. Toasted coconut flakes with savoury toasted walnuts on the back.
My Thoughts
The nose is nicely layered and well balanced, offering both the inherent malt sweetness of The Macallan’s spirit along with a balanced amount of rounded European oak tones that have come to be associated with the distilleries identity. The palate is slightly mellower even as it delivers the same material with a firmer European oak spine.
This is the most European oak spice-driven expression of the trio. Yet set against the darker, more tannic sherried Macallan style (from The Macallan Sherry Oak collection), this still noticeably retains its sweetness and lightness on its feet, the American oak's vanilla and honey often holding the line against the European oak's spice.
@CharsiuCharlie
