Scotch Whisky Review #297: Gordon & MacPhail Speymalt Macallan 42 Year (1973)

Distillery: Macallan

Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail

Region: Speyside

Age: 42 year. Distilled in 1973 and bottled in 2015.

ABV: 43.0%

Cask Type: Sherry Casks

Color: 1.8, Old Oak. Natural Color.

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Nose: It’s the mother of sherry bombs. It’s rich, super thick, and quite intoxicating. Along side the super rich sherry is a bit of oak and a hint of mustiness. Some Ribena pops in towards the back, which is quite delightful.

Palate: Much like the noses suggests, it’s a super sherry bomb. Rich, thick sherry just washes over your mouth completely. It is a tad on the oaky side of things with some aromatics toward the end. With a little splash of water, chocolate malt comes out to join the still strong sherry bomb.

Finish: It finishes a lot hotter than you’d expect. Finish is medium to long in length. Tons of sherry oak and a little bit of chocolate malt.

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Conclusion: I’ve not had a chance to try old Macallan and a sample of this older Speymalt was too good to pass up. It’s a sherry bomb alright, almost near sherry nuke levels. The nose is absolutely the standout here with this amazingly delicious mix of super rich sherry, a bit of mustiness, oak, and berries. The palate and finish, while tasty, simply can’t live up to the promise the nose seems to be making. In fact, taste wise, it tastes really similarly to a sherried Kavalan I had once with lots of sherry but a distinct lack of complexity (though I suppose that’s kinda what you can expect with a whisky this old). It’s overall quite tasty, especially if you love a good sherried whisky. While it is unlikely I could ever bring myself to buy a bottle, I’m very glad to have tried this.

Final Score: 86.

Scotch Whisky Review #297, Speyside Review #110, Whisky Network Review #440

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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.