[Review] Macallan Edition No. 2+3

For this Friday review I'm going to be showing off two bottlings from Macallan's Editions range, the No. 2 and No.3, which focus specifically on showing off a more ideal palate and nose for each respective whisky.

Macallan is a distillery in the Scottish highlands owned by Edrington Group who also own Highland Park and Glenrothes Distilleries along with the Cutty Sark and Famous Grouse brands of blended whiskies. Founded in Moray in 1824, the distillery became well known in Scotland and internationally for single malts exclusively matured in sherry oak and naturally colored until their addition of the partially ex-bourbon matured Fine Oak series in the mid-2000s. The Edition Series was started a few years ago as a yearly release to show Macallan's cask diversity and blending prowess under current distillery manager Bob Dalgarno. The Edition No. 2 and 3 are the later expressions of this series formed as a collaboration with outside partners with experience in a luxury industry that makes them experts on finding a perfect nose and palate for this Macallan series according to the distillery. So let's see how each expression does.

So first we have...

Macallan Edition No. 2

 

The Edition No. 2 is marketed as a collaborative effort by Macallan Master Blender Bob Delgarno and famous Spanish chefs Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca who selected different whisky to blend from various sherry puncheons, butts and refill hogsheads. Its an NAS whisky that is marketed quite high at around $170 CAD in Ontario.

• Color: Amber
• Nose: Oak and sherry, very reminiscent of the Fine Oak, orchard fruit, soft nutmeg, floral notes, hay, light mint, very light tannin. Overall the nose was quite weak and very similar to the 15 Fine Oak that I reviewed previously.
• Taste: Very spicy in strong, baking spices, apples, strawberry, cherry, grass, vanilla, toffee, light clove, citrus fruits
• Finish: Medium-long with apple pie and spiced nuts

This might be one of the strangest experiences I've had with Macallan, it almost felt like reading a great book with a horrible cover. While the nose was rather uneventful the palate and finish had everything I love in a sherried Speyside. The spice and citrus elements worked together fantastically and the more Lowland and Island like floral and cereal elements worked wonders on this whisky, its definitely not a young tasting spirit. While I still think there are better deals out there this is probably my favorite experience with Macallan yet, although I'm very hesitant on saying its worth the asking price here in Ontario so maybe its worth another try! Regardless as it stands now I still really enjoyed this whisky and if you can find it for under $120 CAD I'd say its worth picking a bottle up even if the nose is lacking depth.

85 pts 

 

Next up we have the nose-focused side of this pair...

Macallan Edition No. 3

 

This bottling of Macallan was made in collaboration with master perfumer David Roca who selected a variety of cases that he believed would lead to a sublime whisky along with the help of Macallan master distiller Bob Dalgarno. Aged in a mix of sherry and ex-bourbon casks, butts, puncheons and hogsheads this NAS single malt is bottled at 48.3% ABV. So let’s see how it does with a fresh bottle.

• Colour: Solid Gold
• Nose: Sherryfruit, baked bread, allspice, almost reminds me of a Glenfarclas nose, citrus, raisin, nuts
• Taste: Spicy, rich baked fruit bread, Vanilla, toffee, chocolate, oranges, woodspice, treenuts
• Finish: Medium-Long with spiced apple and bread

I think this might be the Glenfarclas of Macallan. It’s a really stupid thing to say but what I mean is it feels like a Macallan that does everything Glenfarclas is praised for and then adds a great body and spiciness thanks to the higher ABV. I think this one might be worth a buy. I easily prefer this over the Edition No. 2.

86 pts

 

Overall, it's nice to see Macallan releasing some good cask quality whiskies at an enjoyable proof  The only major gripe that hurts the appeal of purchasing these whiskies is the price point, however the whisky themselves are still solid enough to be easily worth a try if you can find them for a decent price per dram. Personally I wish these whiskies were cask strength as I wasn't as huge a fan of Macallan's Classic Cut and would love to see these better quality vattings of quality barrels be bottled at a higher proof in the future. Sadly I'm skeptical whether that future is a certainty given the consumer appeal for anything with the name "Macallan" regardless of quality, but the future is always bright so hopefully Macallan dedicate some time to really get back into the good graces of the connoisseurs who've definitely aided in their successes so far.

Current Review Scoring System:

0-49: Horrible

50-59: Bad

60-69: Mediocre to Average

70-74: Average to Good

75-79: Good to Great

80-84: Great to Excellent

85-89: Excellent

90-94: Superb

95+: Masterpiece

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