The interior of the Macallan Distillery in Speyside.
What do Speyside distilleries Balmenach, Cardhu, Glenlivet, Fettercairn, Miltonduff and The Macallan have in common? All have bicentenaries this year, sharing a rich history that has shaped the way we enjoy Scotch today. Look further afield and 2024 is also a significant year for two other, younger producers that have stamped their own identity on the world whisky scene. Japan’s Nikka was founded 90 years ago by a pioneering whisky-maker who learned his trade in Scotch distilleries. Meanwhile, Amrut launched the first Indian single malt in Scotland just 20 years ago. Take a trip back in time to discover more.
The Macallan
Peter Ranscombe
The Macallan Distillery’s modern exterior
Few single-malt Scotch whiskies dominate the international stage like The Macallan, the Speyside distillery that has become the darling of global auction rooms. Yet the luxury brand’s origins are somewhat humbler.
The Macallan traces its roots to Elchies, a farm distillery that gained its production licence in 1824, the year after the Excise Act legalised whisky making in the Highlands. As with most other distilleries marking their bicentenaries this year, there had probably been illicit distilling during the 1700s on licensee Alexander Reid’s Easter Elchies estate. Those humble origins still influence The Macallan’s style today. Space was tight in farm distilleries, so Elchies had small stills. While other distilleries bought bigger stills when they moved into bigger buildings, The Macallan continued to use small ones, leading to less contact between the vapour and the cleansing copper and therefore producing a heavier, oilier spirit.
That richer spirit is paired with The Macallan’s other defining characteristic: Sherry flavours. The brand’s use of initially ex-Sherry transport casks and latterly Sherry-seasoned bespoke casks began with wine merchant Roderick Kemp, who bought Elchies distillery in 1892 and renamed it Macallan-Glenlivet, a common Victorian marketing gimmick, with the suffix dropped in 1980.
In the early 1980s, Spanish law changed, requiring Sherry to be bottled before export, rather than being shipped in casks. Enterprising cooperages and bodegas began seasoning wooden staves with Sherry to supply casks to the Scotch whisky industry.
Sherry is such an important factor in The Macallan’s style that its parent company Edrington – which also makes Highland Park, The Glenrothes and blended Scotch giant Famous Grouse – has gone to remarkable lengths to secure its supplies. It was among the first to commission seasoned casks, sourcing both European and American oak, and eventually bought its Spanish cooperage partner Vasyma, and a 50% stake in Sherry maker Estévez.
Alongside Kemp, the other important character in The Macallan’s 200-year story is his great-grandson Allan Shiach, who is also the screenwriter and producer behind films including Regeneration, Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, and the stage musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert. When the 1970s energy crisis caused a slowdown in Scotch sales, distilleries shifted their focus from mass-market blends to higher-margin single malts. The Macallan’s richer style had always made it a popular ingredient in blends, but in 1984, under Shiach’s watch, it released its first official single malt bottling. It was also Shiach who helped lay the foundations for The Macallan’s marketing prowess, which has ranged from advertisements next to The Times crossword to partnerships with artist Sir Peter Blake and the James Bond film franchise.
While Glenfiddich and The Glenlivet are rightly saluted for their early work in popularising single malts around the world, it’s The Macallan that has elevated Scotch whisky into the stratosphere of luxury labels, blazing a trail for other brands to enjoy success at auction and among collectors. Not bad for a brand that began in a farm shed.
Nikka
Julie Sheppard
Nikka’s…
Source : https://www.decanter.com.master.public.keystone-prod-eks-euw1.futureplc.engineering/spirits/anniversary-whisky-coming-of-age-540373/
