Released as part of Macallan’s ever-wonderful Sherry Oak range comes this 12 Year Old. It has spent its entire maturation in sherry-seasoned oak casks from Jerez, and is bottled at 40% ABV after its 12 years of ageing. It’s full of all those hallmark dried fruit and marmalade notes we’ve come to know and love from a sherried Macallan.
Crisp and sweet. There are notes of sultanas and fresh apple blossom. There is a defined floral note followed by Sherry hints. Calvados emerges with a tropical fruit note and golden syrup.
Medium-body and quite firm. There are notes of hot pastries and marmalade, sultanas and peels with a developing sweetness from the barley sugar.
Good length with a solid oaked note
This is my go-to 12 year old whisky. It is consistently excellent with a wonderful sherried flavour, sweet but not too much so and a long woody aftertaste that lingers. Yes it's around £70, so comparatively expensive to other 12's, but worth it in my opinion. It never lasts long on my shelf.
I used to drink Macallan 10 sherry and if we could get it 12 sherry wood.It has been probably 10 years since I last purchased Macallan in any form and with what they are charging for it these days its frankly depressing.I recently tried (before lockdown) the recent 12 sherry wood with my friend Leigh from Canada and he used to be a great fan of the 12 bottled at 43 abv.Big disappointment from both of us and we agreed if you want a good sherry hit we would rather buy a Springbank 15 and for considerably less price.I recently spoke to my local whisky retailer and he said Macallan is a shadow of the whisky we had in the 80s and 90s.That is a big malt specialist that told me that.Wake up Macallan and go back to better casks ,that have held sherry for years not just been rinsed.Also up the ABV as £80 for a so so Macallan is taking the mick.Leigh said I can buy nearly 2 better whiskies for what is being asked for what is called a good !!! Macallan these days
I'm reviewing the U.S. 43% imported version. From the moment you handle the substantially weighted bottle, remove the quality capsule, extract the well fitting cork and inhale, you are aware of something special. It follows through to the long thick legs sliding down the sides of the glass. Rich, aromatic, unctuous spirit follows that does not disappoint. I suspect this is where the value point is. Slides down like sweet oil! Cost AU$200 but well worth it.
one of the great 12 yr olds this... dried fruit, a little spice, sherry everywhere, yet so well balanced and considering the amount of sherry, so smooth as well. Macallan have always been famed for their wood(sherry prominent) THIS IS WHY worth more than 5 really, even if its not cheap.... as a sherry forward dram, its hard to beat it really.. struth
I used to love the standard Macallan 12, when it had no branding on the oak or the sherry or the number of barrels. Always kept a bottle on the shelf, and occasionally treated myself to the similarly branded Macallan 18. But ever since they started on this path of Fine Oak, Sherry Oak, Double Barrel, etc, I've been trying to find the equivalent of the wonderful old Macallan 12. Unfortunately this is certainly not it, not even close. It lacks the depth, richness, balance and complexity of the old 12 year. To me it tastes like they literally dumped some sherry into a young spirit and bottled it. I was a long time Mac devotee, but their expansion into their monstrous industrial scale distillery, and all this re-branding has diminished their product significantly. I can't help but think old Michael Jackson would be very disappointed in what they've become.
