Review #31: Macallan Edition No. 4

Distillery: Macallan

Region: Speyside

ABV: 48.4%

Age: NAS

Price: $27/dram at a bar

Color: 1.6, Mahogany, Henna Notes

. Natural Color (!!!).

Nose: Absolutely nothing. Not even the smell of alcohol that you might expect with something this high proof. I tried smelling it over the course of about half an hour as I was drinking this and I couldn’t smell a thing. The next dram I had over this I could smell but nothing out of this one. I thought I was going crazy for a bit there. I did get a nice warming sensation in the nose.

Palate: Talk about a sherry monster. This one comes out swinging with the sherry influence from the sherry seasoned casks. Along with the sherry, there is some vanilla, chocolate, orange, honey, and toasted nuts with a tiny hint of malty sweetness. It’s extremely smooth and delicious. With a bit of water, some fruit jams come out—I’m thinking grape and fig.

Finish: Medium to long. There is a bit of the oak spice toward the end but overall even more sherry and some vanilla. As this goes down, you get the lovely warming sensation all throughout your throat, chest, and arms

Conclusion: I can’t say I’ve had a Macallan quite like this one. It is an absolute treat. If I had this blind, I might have guessed it was something from Aberlour (perhaps a new batch of A’bundh) but never a Macallan. I’ve had Editions No. 2 and 3 and this one was definitely better than either of those. The chocolate, orange, and fruit jam in the palate make for a wonderful palate especially coupled with all of the sherry packed in here. The nose is a mystery to me as I couldn’t smell a thing—perhaps it was the bar though I could smell other drams I had. I imagine my score would have been higher if there was anything in the nose than not though.

Final Score: 84

Scotch whisky review #31, Speyside review #14, Whisky Network Review #41

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection.
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.