Maybe Buy Macallan?: Macallan 12yo "110 Proof" review

Описание: Videos telling viewers not to buy Macallan have been holiday shopping fixtures on this channel pretty much since its inception. I've reviewed better alternatives (   • Don't Buy Macallan: Reviewing Aberlour 12 ...   ), I've reviewed far better past Macallans against present ones (   • Macallans Present and Past: 12yo Double Ca...   ), I've reviewed reasonably priced independent Macallans against rums and brandies (   • If Not Macallan: Speymalt 2003, Apreval Ca...   ); even Tom has tried his hand at fixing the Macallan (twice!!    • Tom the Whiskey Fund Manager Fixes Review ...   and    • Tom Saves The Macallan (Featuring Tom the ...   ). And in five years of doing this I've never actually seen one that looked like it was worth buying, because I just haven't thought they were competitive at their price points.

But today that changes! Edrington seems to have realized that they're not going to get any more money selling $200 NAS limited edition stuff to gullible collectors and that it may actually be worth getting the nerds back on their side, and so they've dropped a new high proof 12 year old. It's clearly meant as a call-back to the 10yo Cask Strengths of yore, and although there is a catch - it's sherry casks but they're all US oak [Edit: Apparently I was reading the little oak scale on the back incorrectly, and this is majority European oak. -S] - at circa $100 on sale this is, on paper at least, totally competitive with sherry bomb offerings from Aberlour, Glenfarclas, Tamdhu, Glendronach, etc.. So I bought one, and here we go:

Macallan 12 Year Old "110 Proof" Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (Aberlour, Scotland; matured in sherry-seasoned American oak, bottled circa 2025; 55% ABV), 87💧/100

So yes, it's a holiday miracle, this reasonably-priced Macallan is actually pretty solid. The US oak combined with the heavy sherry gives this a salted caramel corn kind of character, combined with the usual chocolate orange/Turkish coffee/rosewater thing you'd expect. On the palate the ash and pepper do come in way too early to shut down the fun, but a bit of water opens things right up. So yeah! It's not beating a decent batch of A'bunadh - and it's most definitely not beating Tamdhu at its best (   • Tamdhu Batch Strength v. Highland Park Cas...   )- but it's better than that Glendronach CS I had way back when (   • Blind Tasting/Review #4: Glendronach Cask ...   ). And it's competitive at its price point, which is something I haven't been able to say about a Macallan for a very long time.

Extra special thanks to my Different Spirits on Patreon (  / differentspirits  ) -

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