The decline of the Macallan 12?

[Lawrence]

I just opened a new bottle of Macallan 12 after not having had one in the house for a while and I noticed it did not taste as I had remembered. It was spirity and less sherried than normal, almost out of balance. Usually the sherry is quite dominant but in this bottle the alcohol was more powerful. I've come back to it several times with different styles of glasses but I always have the same result. I suspect than older versions of the 12 had some older whiskies in them and now with the decline in 18 year old stocks throughout the industry the vattings are with much younger whiskies and that's why the depth is not present. Has anybody else had a similar experience or do they have any thoughts on this issue?

[Laphroaig]

I've heard some very discouraging things about what is perceived to have happened when Macallan went into making 18 year "Reserva", as opposed to what happened to the taste of the regular ole' 18 year production. You aren't the first to complain about the 12 possibly showing signs of losing it's edge.

Possible that your palate has evolved since your last visit with Macallan 12?

[Admiral]

There was a time when you could drink any number of regular, garden variety 12yo malts, but then pour yourself a Macallan 12 and sense you were entering a "higher plane". As soon as you switched over to it, you were treated to an increase in sweetness, richness, smoothness, complexity, etc, etc.

As a regular Macallan drinker, it has now been some years since I last opened a Mac 12yo and sensed those extras. The Macallan 12yo is still a fine dram, but it doesn't stand out above the rest like it used to.

[Lawrence]

It's all very irratating.......

[peatreek1]

I concur. Macallan 12 has lost something, but is still good, but not great.

I wonder if increased sales as a single resulted in less selectively over which barrels to bottle.

[Lawrence]

I recently visited Speyside and while talking to a shift supervisor at another distillery he mentioned that the Macallan had decreased the run time of the stills to 4 hours. He said the talk among the distillery workers was the Macallan was trying to maximize production to keep up with demand however there was going to be a loss in quality as the result if the shorter run time. I have no idea if this is all true or not however if true then it is unfortunate.

[Stephen]

It be sold "very very well" in Taiwan by advertisement(almost 1/4 quantity a year),so it 's quality is not like before.

[Lawrence]

I had some of the Macallan Cask Strength last night and it was what I remebered a Macallan to be like. Strong sherry and well rounded, very nice.

[Laphroaig]

Personally Lawrence, I'd stick to the cask strength and simply water it down to my own different bottlings styles.

But seriously the cask strength is probably the best value now and more likely to be purest of what is offered. Everything else is getting to be dicey unless it was barreled back in the 80's!

[Rudy]

Hi Lawrence et al.,

the thread 'Decline of the Macallan?'

http://www.whiskymag.com/forum/viewtopi ... sc&start=0

might be of interest to you...

Enjoy,

Rudy.

[Lawrence]

Laphroaig, I think you're bang on................

[Deactivated Member]

Lawrence,

Like I explained in the message in your message box, a lot factors are involved. However the Macallan cask strength is untouched so you have the full benefit of flavors to your own preferences....

cheers,

Erik

[Lawrence]

Huurman, there is no need to private message me with your answer, I appreciate your taking your time to do so but I feel that's it better to discuss this in an open forum. Further I disagree with you that it's due to the limited casks avaialble to the Macallan. The Macallan is going on forever going on about the quality of their casks, how they go so far as to pick the wine that goes into them, and pays rent in the bodega to store the casks and then shipping them whole to Scotland etc etc. The Macallan is entirly responsible for their casks and the results from those casks. I and several others feel the Macallan 12 is not the dram it used to be for whatever reasons. If the Macallan has changed their wood or distilling policy then it will not be hidden from the purchasing public because they will notice the difference in the dram.

[mxmcat]

here in France it has gone from 43% to 40 % : since that, i find it bad... Last good Macallan for me was the 1874 replica (excepted 1946 vintage).