Macallan 1990

14 year old Speyside 53.9 % vol

1 of only 211 bottles from cask no. 10136

This has been drawn from a ‘traditional’ ex-sherry butt – a refill, so the distillery character has not been masked by the wood. The colour is amber and the first nose is of alcoholic fruit-cake – gloriously moist fruits to star, becoming more crumbly and drier after a while – then flowering currant bushes and a sharp fruity note like unripe red-currants or rowan jelly. There is little change to the aroma when water is added; it just beomes more relaxed. Perhaps a hint of fennel. The flavour, at both natural and reduced strength, starts sweet and finishes dry. Smooth and somewhat tannic, it has all the best characteristics of European oak, without the oft-encountered sulphury drawbacks.

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