The Macallan 18-year-old is the kind of whisky someone looking to impress would have in their collection.  After all, a single malt with an 18-year-old age statement carries some weight.  Especially if it comes from the Macallan distillery.

Look past that and focus on the whisky itself.  You’ll find a damn fine example of a Highland single malt.  Macallan 18 is aged exclusively in ex-sherry casks.  It’s known as a sherry bomb, due to the high influence of flavor those casks provide.  This expression is bottled at 43%.

The nose here is spicy, with ginger leading the charge.  Close behind in full force is luscious toffee and sherried dark fruit, with fruit cake rounding off the nose.  The palate isn’t as sweet as the nose suggests.  I get big sherried dark fruit right up front.  There is also some wood smoke and vanilla bean.  Mid-palate, I pick up a nice amount of spice (cinnamon and ginger) along with some bitter orange rind.  Spiced berries and brown sugar carry the medium finish.

Macallan 18-year-old is richer than its 12-year-old sibling.  Flavors are a tad bolder and more refined.  I see the appeal of this over the younger expression.  A bottle of this runs $200+, while the 12-year-old is $60+.  It’s up to you to decide if six extra years of maturation is worth $140.  Value aside, Macallan 18 is an exquisite sherried whisky I thoroughly enjoyed.  Recommended.