Macallan 10 Year Old Sherry Oak

Nose, Taste, Finish and Balance are graded out of 2.5 each:

Nose: Well, before we even open the bottle, we know that we're dealing with one of the oldest names in Speyside aristocracy, so much so that it has definitive article "The" as a prefix to its name. One hears about Macallan all the time, its long history is apparent for all to see every time you step into a specialist whisky shop, and see the dusty pre-second world war bottles adourning the shelves, protected by the locked glass cabinet. This, allied to its deep sauternes colouring, and its famed sherried depth, adds to a sense of expectation when one pours "The" Macallan into The glass. Now expectation is a difficult thing to live up to, and even though of course this is but a fledgling 10 year, the youngest heir to the great Macallan dynasty, the famed sherried depth is immediately apparent. And it's very deep indeed. The cooked cherry is quite exquisite, as is the sweet aroma of burnt marshmallow - perhaps not an image that one would associate with such aristocracy, however I suppose it shows that the nobility can still rough it. An altogether mouthwatering experience. 2.0

Taste: Very smooth and appropriately velvety. The marshmallow is very much present, as are the cherries, all blended together in a creamy butterscotch sauce. 2.5

Finish: Spice and ginger. It is as if swallowing a rich gingerbread cake, with the flavours still coating the mouth, and savouring every moment that they linger there. Thankfully they're sticking around for a while, but the rich Jamaica Ginger Cake finish, much like the marshmallow on the nose and palate, prove that The Macallan isn't just a stuffy old suit, or, to quote the great Morrissey in 'Panic', "with nothing to say about my life" - there's fun to be had here too. 2.0

Balance: I remember when I was at school, I'd have the same attitude to Shakespeare, when it was constantly drilled into you by stuffy teachers that he was the greatest of the classic writers, and that his plays had been enjoyed by generations long before you, and therefore so must they be by you. Often when you are told these things, it is almost basic instinct to be turned off by it, in a form of youthful rebellion. Then, there's that almost frustrating yet nonetheless exhilarating experience when you first sit down on your own, away from the classroom, and read your first Shakespeare play, and you realise that in fact, despite your instinct, genius lies within those pages, and you understand why for generations it has been so consistently lauded. Suddenly you find yourself reading it in the same way that the first reader must have done, with excitement and awe, as if it were completely fresh and that you yourself were that very first reader. This was my experience with Macallan, and much like with Shakespeare, one struggles to declare a love of it without being accused of pretension. Therefore, as with all classics, to be truly appreciated they must be discovered by the individual, and not preached by the masses. 2.5

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