TLDR;
High-age sherried whisky & Earl Grey.
Boxing day, 26th Dec 23, drove down to The Macallan House and ordered a dram of Macallan London.
Vatting of six first-fill European oak oloroso seasoned casks, and out of curiosity, asked the gentleman what the oldest cask that was used in the vatting is 40 years, and for the other five casks, it falls between 35-40 years. It was to showcase some earl grey expressions.
The ABV for this single malt is 57.5%.
Macallan London 57.5% (OB)
Nose: Sweet, tobacoo. Syrups and light floral notes, and there are berries too with wood notes. It Is a typical high-age sherry on the nose. There are malts and perfume notes too. Nutmegs. Light earl grey expression in the following sniff (MIND IS PLAYING TRICKS!)
Mouth: Tobacoo and spices. Does remind me of the Chinese popcorn. Creams and the body fall between light to medium. The general experience is a typical high-aged sherried whisky again.
Finish: Bitter and light pu-er sweetness. Earl Grey tea.
It is a pleasant experience, a safe sherried whisky to pick, nothing is out of the box, very standard. It does showcase Earl Grey expressions in the whisky. Compared to 30YO, I would prefer this, the higher ABV shows more promise than the regular 30YO- I do believe the key still lies in the ABV rather than age. And, the body of this is still located on the lighter side.
But if you are looking to get a bottle- you always have plenty of other choices.
I hope we can still be friends if I tell you that some/a portion of the notes that can be found in TB/BSW Over 6 Years 46%, A wonderful serendipity 6 YO 46.2% & Kavalan 2016 Whisky Live 2023 57.1%.
Nice scale: 85/100
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