Thursday 26 January 2017

The Macallan 12 year olds - Burn's Night @TweetTasting

Thanks to Steve at @TheWhiskyWire for organising, @The_Macallan for supplying the whisky and @Sietse the Brand Ambassador for answering our questions, I was able to take part in a very enjoyable Tweet Tasting on Burn's Night. About twenty of us were supplied with The Macallan's three 12 year olds (Fine Oak, Sherry Oak & Double Cask) and an engraved nosing glass.

The event itself was very enjoyable, tasting each whisky in turn and sharing our thoughts via twitter, each of us had our own opinions on each of the whiskies, mine are shown below. You can follow the tasting here , it started at 7pm GMT on 25th Jan.

If you want to take part in a future @TweetTastings follow Steve at @TheWhiskyWire on Twitter and sign up for the next one - you never know you might be selected!

Fine Oak

Distillery : The Macallan
Whisky : Fine Oak 12 Years Old

Presentation : 50cl Miniature
Source : Distillery
Price : £60 Master Of Malt

Characteristics : 700ml, 40% ABV, Not Coloured, Chill Filtered 😒
Box/Bottle Information : "A lighter style of The Macallan with flavours of citrus, vanilla and coconut. Triple cask matured in a unique complex combination of exceptional oak casks; European oak casks seasoned with sherry and American oak casks seasoned with bourbon."

Colour : Amber.
Glance : Oily, leaves thin trails when swirled around the glass.
Nose : Inner tubes, Icing sugar, Orangy citrus.
Taste : Vanilla, Brandy Sauce, Grapefruit.
Finish : Medium length, drying finishing with dried pineapple.
Link : Fine Oak

 

Distillery : The Macallan
Sherry Oak

Whisky : Sherry Oak 12 Years Old

Presentation : 50cl Miniature
Source : Distillery
Price : 700ml £70 Master Of Malt

Characteristics : 700ml, 40% ABV, Not Coloured, Chill Filtered 😒
Box/Bottle Information : "Exclusively matured in selected sherry oak casks from Jerez, Spain. Spanish oak, with it's open grain and high tannin content, imparts the classic aromas and flavours of dried fruit, spices and chocolate orange."

Colour : Amber
Glance : Oily, leaves thin trails when swirled around the glass.
Nose : Rich Dundee cake, apples.
Taste : Christmas cake fruit soaking in sherry - raisins, cherries.
Finish : Not drying like the Fine Oak, slight smoke, chocolate.
Link : Sherry Oak

 

Distillery : The Macallan
Whisky : Double Cask 12 Years Old

Double Cask
Presentation : 50cl Miniature
Source : Distillery
Price : 700ml £48 Master Of Malt

Characteristics : 700ml, 40% ABV, Not Coloured, Chill Filtered 😒
Box/Bottle Information : "Created from the perfect balance of sherry seasoned European and American oak, presents similar flavours familiar to both the Fine Oak and Sherry Oak. Sweet yet balanced and honeyed in character."

Colour : Deep Gold (slightly darker than the previous two - looks great).
Glance : Oily, leaves thin trails when swirled around the glass.
Nose : Malty, nutty, a punch in the nose of marzipan and a little smoke.
Taste : Buttery spices, creamy, chocolate hobnobs.
Finish : Honey, slight smoke, initially not drying then dry red apples slide out.
Link : Double Cask


Overall : The Fine Oak was a lovely sipping malt, suitable for a summer bbq with chicken maybe not a cold Burn's Night. The Sherry Oak was definitely for sipping around a log fire, lovely mouth feel - like Christmas cake mix. From the description I expected the Double Cask to be somewhere in between but that wasn't the case - it was a step up from the Fine Oak and, I think, just slightly better than the Sherry Oak. I can see both of the final two filling a hole on my whisky shelf.

View the Tweet Tasting Unboxing post.

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