Macallan 12y

Related whiskies : The Macallan 12 Years Old , The Macallan 12 Years Old, Fine Oak , The Macallan Easter Elchiles Cask Selecttion 12 Years Old , The Macallan Gran Reserva

by **ry6265** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 3:43 am

Very diffcult to find a Macallen 12y in shanghai's food store. few of buyer.

12y old. have not opened yet.

any information about it?

pls give me a comment on it. good? so so? or what ever?

any suggestion with it?

what is the best food with it? what is the best cigar with it?

what is the best time with it?

many thanks in advance.

richard

by **Admiral** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 6:18 am

I'm not sure I can answer all your questions, (i.e. no idea what cigar to have with it - I'm a militant non-smoker), but here's a few thoughts:

It's noticeably better than the 10yo. A bit sweeter & fruitier.
Whilst there was a dip in quality for 2-3 years, the most recent bottling has been fantastic. I think it's possibly one of the best 12 year olds on the market.

I enjoy it as an after-dinner whisky. Because it's sherried and has that classic Macallan fruitcake spiciness and sweetness, I find it goes well with some desserts, (i.e. fruitcake!), but it's generally fine after any dessert.

Enjoy!
Admiral

by **ry6265** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:36 am

thanks !

by the way, are there any web store that can sell whisky?

regards

richard

by **Aidan** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:07 am

http://www.royalmilewhiskies.com
http://www.whisky.fr
http://www.potstill.com
http://www.whiskyexchange.com

These all sell whisky, and there are many many more.

by **Tom** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:37 am

I'll second Admiral on the point of the mac 12 being one of the best 12 Y old around.
i drink this one on relaxed occasions or while having a good conversation. preferebly when going out. mostly to finish off a good evening before going home. excellent whisky!
As for cigars, i'd say a lighter one. I prefer the heavier CS mac with a cigar with some punch in it, but the mac 12 goes well with a light one. though this beaty is great without cigar at all too.
It has an absolute fantastic balance between oak, malt and sherry with lovely oak tones on the foreground and the dried fruit lurking underneath. The oak is more present here then in the older bottlings but in a good way.it never turns the whisky bitter wich is the case with many other young drams.
hmm, you know, i could write about this one forever so i'll just stop and have one instead. you go and open that bottle, you'll love it!
Slainte

by **bond** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 9:43 am

Macallan 12 YO is indeed my favourite sherried malt too. But I must confess I quite like the 10 YO too and do not find much to differentiate between the two.

by **Admiral** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 12:11 pm

I met with some fellow malt mates today, one of them being a particularly seasoned and knowledgeable palate, another probably having the biggest collection of Macallans this side of the equator.

We all agreed that the latest bottlings of the Mac 12 are the best in years. As in, 6 to 8 years!!! One seasoned Mac fan believes they have not been this good since 1996, so it's a good malt to re-visit if you feel it's been off the boil in recent times.

Cheers,
Admiral

by **Tom** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 12:25 pm

I take it you are talking about the new bottles then? The ones with the triangle in the neck?

by **Admiral** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 12:40 pm

Well, yes, but I did taste the very last and latest Mac 12 bottlings that came in to Oz before the new packaging, and many of us agreed that these too were an exceptional improvement on their predecessors.

by **Tom** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 1:15 pm

Ok, Thanks,
Its just that i had this feeling too that the triangle bottles are a bit better, the 25Y old got definatly better and it was already an almost perfect dram before. (To me)

by **Lawrence** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 6:04 pm

After boycotting Macallan 12 for a period I am delighted to have been re-acquainted with this fine whisky over the last few months. I now have it a cople of times a week and usually as my last dram if I am out. I am delighted that it's back and I am only drinking it again after the excellent comments made by Admiral on these forums. Thank you.

by **Admiral** » Sat Jan 08, 2005 10:37 pm

Damn.....I really should contact Macallan and ask for a commission! :wink:

by Ed » Tue Jan 18, 2005 3:22 pm

Hello All,

Admiral, I was happy to see your comments on Macallen 12 here, especially where you said that the 12 is significantly better than the 10. I saw them both in a couple of different stores. They were the same price in one place. The 12 was actually cheaper in the other, 30 yen or so. I didn't buy either at the time as I was on a bourbon mission. Now I am eagerly awaiting payday so I can go and get the Macallen 12.
Ed

by **Admiral** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 9:44 pm

Ed,

If possible, try to ascertain that the 12yo you're buying is a recently released one, i.e. it was delivered to the store in the last 6-10 months or so.

Bottlings older than this are inferior and too caramel heavy.

Cheers,
Admiral

by Ed » Wed Jan 19, 2005 5:53 am

Hello All,
Admiral, I will do my best to check that out. Is the Triangle mark on the neck a good indication that it is a new enough bottling or not? Is there anyway to tell from the label? Not that the labels are always the same here in Japan as they are elsewhere.
Ed

by **Deactivated Member** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:46 am

Hi Ed,

The triangle mark is an indication of the new bottles from The Macallan. The 12Y old is good, the 18Y old is excellent and the 25Y old is superb, not to mention about the 30Y old.

Cheers,

Erik

by **Admiral** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 12:51 pm

Macallan have decided to no longer export the 30yo to Australia. The last bottle in the country was sold about 12 months ago.

(I know......I bought it!!!

)

Sorry Erik, but I can't believe how much the price has gone up for the 18yo. Only six months ago, you could get it for around $115-$120. Now it is retailing everywhere for $158.

Cheers,
Admiral

by Ed » Wed Jan 19, 2005 2:33 pm

Hello All,
Thanks again. I will definitely buy it if it is the new bottling. I will probably buy it anyway, even if it is the old bottling. Unless you tell me the old 12 year old was undrinkable or something. I don't remember for sure, but I think the price was under 3500 yen. I don't remember if they had the 18 year old. I am not really looking at anything priced over 4000 yen right now. I am looking forward to payday!
Ed

by **Deactivated Member** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 5:09 pm

Hi Admiral,

I know, due to scarse stocks the price has gone up and certain ages are no longer availlable in some countries. I hope that when the sherry industry has restored from their decline of sales, the price will lower down a little bit for the mac. A shame it is...

Cheers,

Erik

by **dhines** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:01 pm

Loved the Fine Oak 10yo bottling, will be going up there in Feb will ask about the 12yo earlier bottlings, any questions you want asking let me know.

by **ry6265** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:22 am

opened. with a great davidoff special t.

great!

the finish is quite and comfort!

thanks scotch! thanks god!

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:25 am

I'm glad you enjoyed your Macallan 12Y old, ry6265. Try the 18Y old once with a cigar, I have been told by the people who do smoke, a 18Y old Macallan goes very well with a cigar.

Cheers,

Erik

by **Lawrence** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 5:46 pm

I am so happy that the Macallan 12 is back, for a while it was a bit 'thinner' and i often end an evening out with the Macallan 12.

by **Admiral** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:06 pm

Interesting you should use the word "thinner".

I actually found the whisky in those bottlings "thicker" or more dense, but I'm sure it was just the heavy cloak of caramel.

Suddenly I can taste the malt and the fruits again, and not be overwhelmed by wine & toffee.

Cheers,
Admiral

by **Deactivated Member** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:57 pm

Hi Admiral,

I actually found the whisky in those bottlings "thicker" or more dense, but I'm sure it was just the heavy cloak of caramel.

What's your point here with this quote of yours? Do you sugest that The Macllan uses Caramel??(E150)

Cheers,

Erik

by **Admiral** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:55 pm

Absolutely!

I am aware that they don't use caramel in all of their bottlings, but we know that it is used in some of them.

Cheers,
Admiral

by **Tyson** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 6:54 am

I picked up a bottle of the new Mac 12 after having been sorely dissapointed with the "old style" label bottlings of Mac the past few years. I have to say that the new 12 (with triangle label) is a vast, vast improvement over the Mac 12 of the past couple of years. Thanks for the tip Admiral!

by Ed » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:52 pm

Hello All,
I did get The Macallan 12 yr. I had some yesterday and some more tonight. I am pleased with it, so far. I find that it takes me more than a couple of drams to really get to know a whisk(e)y well, so I haven't made up my mind just yet. At worst, it is a whisky that I will always enjoy when the opportunity arises. It may not win out over others on my favorites list when it comes time to spend my limited whiskey allowance. Then again, at the second tasting it is already growing on me. One of these evenings I shall have to sit down and drink three or four drams and see what that tells me.
Ed

by **Tom** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 6:52 pm

Hello Ed,
Glad to see you got the mac.
It will open up alittle after awhile too. I find the ideal moment for tasting notes when the bottle is halffull, very often thats about the perfect amount for oxidation.
Also, dont let our praises for the mac influence your own opinion, i think we all like it but it will rarely be the most favorite dram over all. its just great value.

by **Tyson** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 7:17 pm

I just think it's great that a dram that was in a downward spiral (for quality of taste) has made a strong comeback. Macallan isn't my favorite speysider, but the fact that it's a lot closer to the top of the list is very heartening.

by Ed » Sat Feb 12, 2005 4:45 pm

Hello All,
Hello Tom,
I am drinking the Mac 12 yr now. The bottle is about at the half way mark and it may well be that you are right. I am enjoying this dram quite a bit more than I did earlier ones. More complexity, more of what I take to be the sherry influence. A sweet maltiness with some vanilla with some nice oak running through it all. Other evenings, after drinking some very nice bourbon, the Mac tasted sweet and maple-syrupy. Not tonight.
Ed

by **Deactivated Member** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 5:24 pm

Admiral,

Wich bottles of the Macallan are you referring to, wich in your opinion were colored? I tryed to find out but here in Europe but I can't find anything at all. Do you happen to know wich bottles? Do you have any information at all about the Origional Bottles from the Macallan on wich is stated that E150 is being used? Based on what information can you state that E150 is used in some of them?
And I'm not referring to the G&M stuff or any other Independent Bottler.

Please let me know I'm quite curious wich ones, because so far I haven't encountered a colored origional Macallan.

Cheers,

Erik

by **Mr Fjeld** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 5:35 pm

I remember reading about caramel here from another post at the forum - only a few here are official bottlings:

Macallan (Holzkiste) 43%
Macallan 1940/1998 (G&M) 40%
Macallan 1946/1998 43% #
Macallan 1966/2000 (MacPhail's Collection) (G&M) 40%
Macallan 1975/2001 (MacPhail's Collection) (G&M) 40%
Macallan 1981 Gran Reserva 40%
Macallan 1984/2002 43%
Macallan 1988/2001 (McNeill's Choice) 56,2%
Macallan 1989/2001 46%
Macallan 1989/2001 (Whisky Galore) 43%
Macallan 1990/2000 (MM) 46% #
Macallan 1991/2000 (MacPhail's

http://www.whiskymag.com/forum/viewtopi ... e&start=15

Cheers!
Christian

by **Admiral** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 11:14 pm

Erik,

About two months ago or so, Lawrence posted a very comprehensive list of all the coloured / uncoloured malts.

I believe Christian has extracted the Macallans from the list above. Whilst many of them are IB's, you can see there are a few OB's there as well.

Cheers,
Admiral

by **Deactivated Member** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:07 pm

For your interest,

There still seems to be people here on this forum who believe that Macallan has used E150 in the past. Now I've been in contact with The Macallan and they asured me that they never have used E150 in the past aswell as today. The color of the Macallan whisky is based on a pure natural color. That not only goes for the Classic Macallan but also for the Fine Oak.

There's a list posted here wich indicated that the Macallan should have used E150, well that list is in my eyes very questionable because of some other whiskies I found from wich I know they never contained any E150, but the latter is not the issue here.

What might happen in the past, is that a few bottles of Macallan got a wrong label. But that matter was solved very quickly and they could trace that back as an production error.

A few years ago there has been a discussion similar like this in were the Macallan was acused of using E150. Now it has been a very very large discussion and I rember it well. In the end there was a reply from The Macallan in the Whisky Magazine it self, that they never use any E150 at all (not even in the past). For those who are interested: look for the postings of September the 1st 2002 the author was Oliver. Just in the beginning of following the year - and I believe from some of involvement from the Whisky Magazine - The Macallan came back with a statement in wich they answered the final question do we use E150 or not. I believe it satisfied a lot of us here. But it's very sad to read that people still think about a: 'heavy cloag of caramel" and that that comes from the E150 or spirit caramel. For those of you who are interested, look for Issue 28 page 74 there you can read the statement from the Macallan.

The Macallan has no control of what so ever on what third parties will do with their whisky, therefor The Macallan is not responsible for their production methods.

Now either myself or The Macallan will no longer take part in these discussions of using E150 0r not, because the answer is no, Macallan doesn't use any E150 at all.

Regards,

Erik

Related whiskies : The Macallan 12 Years Old , The Macallan 12 Years Old, Fine Oak , The Macallan Easter Elchiles Cask Selecttion 12 Years Old , The Macallan Gran Reserva

Macallan 12y

Macallan 12y

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