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r/Scotch•
ahugenerd

Review 19 - Macallan Amber

Review 19 - Macallan Amber

Posted Oct 5, 2014, 9:47 PM UTC

368
ahugenerdOPIn a Glencairn, neat.•

Hello Scotchit,

Here is my 19th review, a Macallan that I had never tried before: Macallan Amber. The bottle was given to me as a present, and so the price paid is unknown to me. But thanks to the fact that the government has a complete monopoly on liquor sales in Canada, I was quickly able to figure out that the cost of this bottle is set at $100 ($89 Freedom Dollars). I have to preface this review with a significant caveat: I have tried many (most?) Macallan offerings over the years, and have no been impressed, so keep that in mind as it might affect my judgement.

  • Colour: Unsurprisingly, amber. I would be disappointed with anything else, really.
  • Nose: Rich leather, a bit of fruit (more grapes than citrus, surprisingly), no smoke or peat to be detected. Quite pleasent, if a bit thin.
  • Taste: Spicey, but also fairly heavy on the sherry. Not overbearingly so like a Macallan Cask Strength, but very obvious. Most of the fruityness is lost in the spice, but if you pay attention, it's there. There's also a bit of alcohol burn, and take that as you may.
  • Finish: The flavours stick around for quite a bit. As they fade, the fruit becomes much more obvious, and the spice less so. It's an interesting change, and adds a bit of depth to the scotch.

This scotch is good, verging on very good. There are other scotches I would drop $100 on before this one, but as a gift it's perfect: I get to enjoy a good (new!) scotch. What else could you ask for? The issue I have with this scotch is that it's overly simple: you get sherry, you get spice, you get a bit of burn, and that's pretty much it. Yes there's a bit more there if you really pay attention, but you don't get the delicate ballet of flavours like you'd get with a Glenfiddich Cask of Dreams, Glenlivet Nadurra, Balvenie 14 Carribean Cask, or a Bunnahabhain 12. Final score: 75/100

4
Scotch_FanaticNeat, from the cask•

Great review!
We don't see many reviews of the new Macallan line, so thank you for that.

You say you've had other Macallan's. Which one has been you favourite?

2
ahugenerdOPIn a Glencairn, neat.•

This one, by a fair margin actually. It's just a lot more balanced than many of their other offerings. I'm not saying that their classic line is bad or anything, just that it dips towards the "too-much-of-a-good-thing" end of the spectrum.

2
CdnTreeherder•

i loved macallan when i started drinking scotch, but after a few years i tend to find them a bit boring and heavy on the sherry. i think they're a good gateway scotch. i usually start out my friends who are new to scotch with a macallan so they can understand scotch doesn't have to be that peat monster they tried that one time.

like you said, it's a good example of one extreme of the spectrum.

1
solidudal•

I got to try this and the Ruby one recently and I agree with the score you gave it. The Ruby was better, but waaaay too expencive.

1
SUpercubanguy•

How would you say this compares to the Glenfiddich 15 solara? That's been one of my favorites ad of late but this carries a much steeper pricetag

1
ahugenerdOPIn a Glencairn, neat.•

Keep in mind that the price tag on this is so high primarily due to the fact that my government is still using prohibition-era taxation as a cash-cow. Canada can be really dumb sometimes. A bottle of Solera costs $65 here.

That being said, I'd probably put these two on equal footing, maybe with the Macallan getting a slight edge.

3
chameleon02•

Thanks for your review. If anyone else is interested, we also did a video review at our monthly whisky society meet up as well:

The Macallan: Amber

1