The Macallan 1989, Exceptional Cask V

Tasted in Whisky Magazine Issue 38 by Michael Jackson and Dave Broom.

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Tasting Notes

Michael Jackson Nose Mint chocolates. Fudge. Calvados. Oak. Palate Packed with flavour. Cocoa, Demerara sugar. Ginger. Finish Coffeeish dryness. Bittersweet. Comment Lovely pinkish mahogany colour. Big esters, together with alcohol, balance a surprising degree of woodiness. Drinks older than it is. Another fogeyish bottling.

Dave Broom Nose Complex and meaty: cooked fruits, polished oak, incense, coffee grounds, medlar, wet tea leaves, dry amontillado, flamed orange peel. Palate Perfumed, almost oily start. Good balance. Wood gives grip but there's sweet centre with notes of heather blossom and maraschino cherry. Finish Lightly peaty. Comment A big boy, but has sufficient sweetness to balance the oak.