The Macallan has released a new 50-year-old vintage, but you’re going to have to have deep pockets to drink it: $35,000 deep.
The Scottish company has unveiled its remarkably rare, limited edition single malt, The Macallan 50 Years Old. The 2018 release is a rich and complex whisky thanks for five decades of maturation, presenting sweet oak vanilla and blackcurrant characters with a beautiful, vibrant amber natural color. Wood vanillas open on the nose with a hint of spice before ripe blackcurrants and an earthy tone combine, with a background of subtle peat. The palate leads with flavors of sweet oak vanilla, fudge and toffee, soon making way for black peppercorns to provide a gentle warming, with deep sweetness joining from orange peels and figs. The finish is an incredibly viscous mouth coating, which is long and slightly dry from the subtle peat notes.
Acquiring a robust elegance from curiously small stills, the spirit was laid down in a single European oak Sherry butt from Spain and left to mature slowly. During the fifty year process, the ancient wood shaped the spirit, delivering the greatest contribution to the character, natural color, distinctive aromas and full flavors at the heart of this single malt.
“After being left to mature for half a century, this wonderfully rare single malt is full of rich flavor and beautiful natural color. Coveted by whisky connoisseurs and collectors around the world, The Macallan 50 Years Old is an incredible addition to our expanding range of unique, mature whiskies and marks another pinnacle of The Macallan whisky makers’ art,” says Nick Savage, Master Distiller at The Macallan, who adds, “With a finite volume of only 200 individually numbered bottles worldwide, this highly limited 2018 release will likely be in very high demand.”
Bottled at an ABV of 44% The Macallan 50 Years Old is presented in a solid oak box featuring an etched face inlaid with a matte gold badged age statement. The bottle label is reminiscent of the 50 and 25 Years Old bottling’s. This 2018 release will be available starting this month and is limited to 200 bottles worldwide, with only 35 bottles allocated to the USA, at a suggested retail price of approximately $35,000.
