Review #115 - Macallan 12 Year Sherry Oak Cask
12 Year Speysider Series: Part 1 of 7
Today we're starting a seven part series on 12 year Speyside whiskies, all from different distilleries - these are a many of your entry level, widely available, reasonably priced (sometimes) single malts, whiskies that introduce a lot of people to the hobby.
What better place to start than Macallan? One of the most famous and well-sold 12 year Speyside whiskies (probably alongside Glenfiddich and Glenlivet), this bottle contains whisky aged in sherry-seasoned casks from Spain. There are actually three separate core range 12 year whiskies from Macallan - the Sherry Oak Cask, the Double Cask, and the Triple Cask. We're looking at the most expensive and well-regarded, the Sherry Oak Cask.
Macallan does give us the information on the bottle that their whisky is natural color - that's a nice plus. It is bottled at 43% ABV, though, meaning it's a little weaker than we would like, and it's very likely chill filtered.
Macallan 12 Year Sherry Oak Cask
Scotland/Speyside - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 67 (2021)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 90 (2023)
Age Statement: 12 Years
Strength: 43% ABV
Cask Makeup: Sherry casks from Jerez
Details: No color added
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 17 months; bottles at 60%, 40%, 20%, and 20% (blind tasting) fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Leaning very heavily into the sherry notes - dominant prune and raisin, clove and pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon, a light leather as well. It's rounded and warm, but there's this underlying musty note, sort of a dirty, old school character hiding beneath the red fruits. As the nose opens up, it turns toward purple grape and blood orange, and later on, it becomes slightly tart. Never too sweet in the first place, but far from bitter.
Palate: It's a medium mouthfeel - lots of dried fruits again on the front of the palate, like tangy prune and strawberry, maybe some plums - pretty juicy at times, too. There's a little more of an oak influence on the palate compared to the nose, and it's bringing spices of pepper and chili, some clove and white pepper; there are sweeter notes of burnt sugar and molasses, as well. There's a hint of astringency, but with more time, this can open into a lighter stone fruit, evening bordering on banana. The longer it's aired out, though, the more watery it seems.
Finish: Medium length, tangy, and a little hot despite the 43% ABV. Again, it's sherry dominant, with warm baking spices and some red and orange fruit, but instead of sharp spice, it's turning toward sweetness from vanilla and cinnamon, even some cardamom. Relatively rich overall, just doesn't last too long.
Final Note: This is a decent whisky; Macallan gets some flak for their over-the-top marketing and luxury pricing despite mediocre presentation, but there is solid character in this distillate. It's too bad that it's given to us at 43% (or 40% in many markets), and is likely heavily filtered, because there's potential here - we like that dirty, old school character hiding below the sherry. Decent stuff, if a little simple, but price is the real issue - it's now $90 in our area, and we've heard it's even more expensive in some places. Not worth it at that point - there are too many other sherry bombs for less money in today's whisky market.
Our Average Rating: 6.6 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.21
Check out some of our other Macallan reviews:
