The Macallan 12-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch Review

Macallan 12

The Macallan has built a reputation synonymous with luxury and quality.  Older expressions are some the most valued whiskies among collectors.  It’s a Highland distillery that is generally known as a sherry bomb.  That’s because, with the exception of their Fine Oak line, all their whisky is aged in sherry casks.  Macallan claims it imports most of the sherry casks coming out of Spain.  It’s clear they take their wood selection seriously.

Macallan’s Sherry Oak line ranges from the base 12-year-old expression all the way to a pricy 30-year-old single malt.  Again, all the whiskies here are aged exclusively in ex-sherry casks.  It’s a style of whisky I tend to enjoy.

On the nose, the sherry cask influence can’t be clearer.  There’s an initial blast of dried fruit and a sweet sherry note, followed by some malted grain and a little toffee.  Entry on the palate is all toffee and soft vanilla, over a bed of sherried fruit and spice.  There’s a welcome touch of smoke.  It’s not a peaty smoke, more a wood smoke.  Just a touch.  Mulled wine ends the experience in a rich, slightly dry finish.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of tasting a classic sherried whisky, I would suggest you start with this Macallan 12-year-old or Glenfarclas 12-year-old.  Macallan is generally more readily available.  What we have here is a rich, fruit-sweet and slightly spicy Highland single malt.  It’s priced a little higher than a standard 12-year-old Scotch at about $60.  I’d love to see it slightly cheaper, but I do enjoy what’s in the bottle.

8/10
(Note: A review sample was provided by Edrington Americas.)

 

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection 1838 Style White Corn Bourbon Review
Photo courtesy of Woodford Reserve

Photo courtesy of Woodford Reserve

Autumn means one thing for the folks at Woodford Reserve – the release of a new Master’s Collection.  For this year’s release, Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Chris Morris played around with grains, in this case, corn.  In a throwback and homage to legendary whisky makers Oscar Pepper and James Crow, Morris is utilizing white corn instead of the traditional yellow corn.  Pepper and Crow used white corn back from the late-1830s to the 1850s.  Additionally, according to the press release, Morris was able to “develop and bring to life a recipe Pepper and Crow might have used.”

Nosing this bourbon, I can immediately tell this isn’t the standard Woodford Reserve.  I get sweet corn grits and what seems like a young oak note – similar to what I get on some craft whiskies.  All over a bed of toffee and ginger snaps.  The whiskey is slightly spicy upfront, with buttered corn and lemon pudding dominating, followed by a touch of toffee.  The finish here is all black pepper, and becomes dry rather quickly.  The body here feels a bit thin, especially for a 90.4 proof bourbon.

I always applaud experimentation.  Sometimes it works.  Other times it doesn’t.  However it is always interesting.  This year’s Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection can best be summed up as interesting.  Don’t go into it expecting a Woodford Reserve-like bourbon.  It’s different and interesting, but I think it might take some folks time to fully warm up to this one.  Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection 1838 Style White Corn carries an SRP of $99.

7.5/10
(Note: A review sample was provided by Woodford Reserve.)

Barrell Bourbon Batch 005 Review

barrell bourbon

Barrell Bourbon is the brainchild of Joe Beatrice.  Based out of Crestwood, KY, Beatrice seeks out barrels of whiskies he finds unique.  Though he openly sources his whiskey, Beatrice is not willing to stick to one specific mashbill or style of whiskey.  Some batches are from Kentucky, while others from Tennessee.  Each batch is bottled at cask strength and non-chill filtered.  This retains the quality of the whiskies aging in the casks.

Barrell has released several batches of bourbon and whiskey.  Batch 005 is a Tennessee straight bourbon whiskey bottled at 124.7 proof.  Aged for slightly more than 8 years, it’s made up of 70% corn, 26% rye and 4% malted barley.

As expected with a barrel-proof whisky, the nose is big and robust.  Roasted sweet corn dominates this full-bodied bourbon.  Look for rye spice, cocoa and vanilla notes right underneath.  Taste-wise, I get some lovely sweet corn pudding, dark chocolate, sharp rye grain, and vanilla… all underneath a bed of cinnamon.  The high proof and high rye mash bill gives this bourbon a spicy kick.  The sweet corn note carries over onto the medium finish, developing into sweet cinnamon.  A surprisingly shorter finish than expected.

Barrell Bourbon batch 005 is unlike any other bourbon I’ve had the pleasure of tasting.  There’s something about the way the corn note plays with the spiciness I can’t find in another bourbon.  Think Booker’s minus the nutty note with the cinnamon note turned up a few notches.  Very nicely done.

8.5/10
(Note: A review sample was provided by Barrell Bourbon.)