Scotch Whisky Review #256: The Macallan Edition No. 6

Distillery: Macallan

Region: Speyside

Age: NAS

ABV: 48.60%

Price: Sample courtesy of /u/herr_maltenberg.

Color: 1.4, Tawny. Natural Color.

This particular review is a combination of two visitations with this whisky. The first occurred at home via a sample provided by /u/herr_maltenberg and the second was at Proof Omaha. I’ll comment a little more on that below.

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Nose: (according to the wife) A lemon black tea is the main note here. It smells an awful like Lipton tea specifically. Green apples and oranges follow along with some raisins and a white wine.

Palate: It’s really rich, far richer than I would have expected. Vanilla icing gets you started before giving way to a creamy black tea (think boba milk tea). A few dried fruits also show themselves, with dried persimmons and raisins being the most prominent of them. It has no need for water.

Finish: This is where things get weird. The first time I tried this, it was absolutely astringent and bitter. There was a strong ethanol presence and it was rather unpleasant. A bit of herbs and that sugary milk tea helped temper the bitterness a tad, but it wasn’t enough. The second time I had this, it couldn’t have been more different. There was absolutely nothing bitter and astringent at all. In fact, it was perhaps the most chocolate-ly Macallan I’ve ever had. Milk chocolate coated the mouth and just seemed to go on for days. There was a little bit of a sweet cooling effect that reminds me a lot of Stevia confectioners sugar substitute. Delicious.

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Conclusion: I’ve been very critical of modern Macallan, especially of their last Edition release and their other NAS limited editions. /u/herr_maltenberg insisted that Macallan had released a good one in Edition No 6 and I have to say he was right. The nose is welcoming, but a bit misleading. It teases a more fruity and perhaps earthy dram. The rest of it, however, is a very rich dessert delight. Between the vanilla icing, boba tea, dried fruits, and chocolate, I’m not sure you could get more flavor into this if you tried. I’m glad I tried this twice, since the first time everything seemed to be going so well until that weird finish. Perhaps my palate was off that day, but the second go around was fantastic. Would I buy a bottle? Looks like I will be.

Final Score: 85.

Scotch Whisky Review #256, Speyside Review #98, Whisky Network Review #397

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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 (if feasible).
• 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.