Macallan Classic Cut (2019 Release)

Of course there are 2 of the same bottles posted here....anyway. So macallan the distillery who makes our skin crawl, but darn it if they don't have some good malt they water down and ruin and then bottle incorrectly and then over charge us for! This their 2019 "classic cut" which is a proofed down (they pour water into the whisky) fake NAS CS bottling...again marketing. Is their newest in the classic cut line. A line I've really enjoyed despite macallan's dreadful marketing, and their odd commercial with the guy committing suicide only to I assume in a dream state while falling to his death growing wings. Suicide support aside lets get into the whisky. Nose - an inviting mix of vanilla and chocolate. Accentuated by ginger and only lightly hinting at young unrefined alcohol notes. Then I get a bit of citrus as it opens up almost coming in with orange notes. Interesting when sitting in the glass I get those chocolate and vanilla notes but when keep going back and don't let is build up, it's orange vanilla cream and alcohol. Taste - So elephant out of the room, there's zero question in this being young whisky. This is a super sweet dram up front that goes bitter and more bitter as it goes down. Vanilla and a mix of bitter and citrus fruits really come on hard and punchy. The finish is all vanilla and cream and wonderful milk chocolate and even perhaps as the box says honey. Overall the finish is great but the flavor is really a bit off putting in the context of everything else. . So 17 vs 18 vs 19? The 17 brings in far more oak but in an extremely inviting way for these younger casks. Richer and sweeter and just fuller in body. The 18 feel thin next to these. It's more spices and frankly thin and almost dismissive. The 18 feels like an odd ball in the lineup. oak is not really playing a role until the finish where it is a nice change of pace. So the 19 vs them? Well the 17 still stands out as the most drinkable and enjoyable while packing the most abv punch. For me that's a true standout thought my 4.0 score does feel like me hyping a bottle I just really felt was a good value vs a fair and honest score. I think I need to review that score and move it back to a more fair score. The 18 still to me is not an enjoyable whisky vs the other two, but still very good. The 19? Well it's good. But not special. I'm going with a 3.0 here and frankly I think i've overrated both the 17 and 18 before this. I still think this is better than a lot of vastly higher priced macallan but my standards are going up for what is a 3.0 and certainly a 4.0. So full disclosure while this bottle is going 120-135 at actual fair prices around me, I somehow found this for 80. At 80 it's a must buy for sherry fans. At the 100 mark it's a good buy and over that it's a pass. I will be reviewing the batch 8 glendronach and glenrothes blenders or makers cut...so two more NAS higher proof sherry whiskies and I'll be going back to this 19 in reference so I reserve the right to adjust this score. But I suspect both will come in below this as 3.0's are not low scores for me.

I have a natural resistance for what i am about to do. If you have read my reviews before, you know i am not a Macallan fan. I recognize it as a good whisky, they often make normal expressions that i believe are highly praised by many, but they aren't really THAT good. Having said that, i recently had the classic cut 2018 edition, and i loved it. I scored it 92/100 and i remember that whisky as the most real Macallan ever, it represented every flavor profile i expect from a Macallan. All this made me buy the 2019 edition, and... well... read the rest. Bottled at 52.9%abv, chesnut natural color. On the nose... very complex stuff. Oranges is the first thing you perceive. White chocolate, very winey. Dates, crémé brulee, nuts, cocoa, almonds and amaretto liquor. After the first sip, the dehydrated fruits appear: raisins, dehydrated oranges and a mineral spiciness. After 10 minutes, it released more. Orange juice, liquid thick caramel, stewed apples and Latex. On the palate, it is just amazing. Vanilla cupcake, fondant. A spicy note starts growing after a couple of seconds, to become this sodium-salty note you get from a Coca Cola (don't tell me you just realized coca cola is actually fairly salty). 2nd sip gave me chocolate, a medicinal note and latex, as in the nose. Aftertaste is just incredibly rewarding. Red fruits, tobacco and mineral spiciness. It turns into ginger and chocolate. Very long with an overall mineral feeling. White chocolate with almonds can be felt in the finish. So... i had a whole page written with tasting notes. I try to deduct points from the nose, palate and aftertaste, but my sense of justice didn't let me. The more i tried to deduct points somewhere, the more i realized this dram was very well made. It is not my favorite whisky, i won't die if i never taste it again, but i will surely think this is as close to perfection for a whisky critic and enthusiast. Every rule has an exception, and this my friends, this is a perfect score dram: 100 over 100. Sláinte Mhath. Go buy this.

Continuing on my exploration through some of Macallan’s releases, next up I have a sample of their 2019 Classic Cut that was bottled at 52.9% ABV. The nose starts with a mix of sweet creamy lemon lime frosting and light leather then dark chocolate covered golden raisins and freshly ground espresso beans followed by musty grapes, persimmons and caramelized nectarines that transitions to light baking spices and light oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with a mix of sweet creamy lemon lime frosting and light leather then a mild bitter spice that slowly fades to dark chocolate mocha, butterscotch pudding and mandarin orange followed by musty grapes, persimmons and caramelized peaches that transitions to light baking spices and light oak with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with caramelized peaches, lime zest, dark chocolate covered raisins, espresso, light black pepper spice and mildly bitter black tea. This is an enormous improvement over their 12-year old Double Oak that the flavors are far richer, likely from that 12.9% bump in ABV, that balances creamy sweet and sour citrus fruits, light earthiness and youthful oak spice. It has a slight youthful sourness that would likely polish out with a few more years of aging, but this really shows promise for what Macallan can do if they would just stop water-boarding their single malts into a smooth yet lackluster and characterless dram.

Traded a bottle of Blanton's for this. Was half-expecting to be disappointed, but I read enough reviews to feel fairly comfortable with the trade. The nose is a blast of raisin. I can also pick up some dark chocolate and orange. The palate brings honey, jammy red fruit, raisin, dark chocolate, and a little wisp of gunsmoke. Here it feels more like a feature than a flaw. I didn't like the sulfur in the 12 year Sherry Oak, but the little bit I notice here I experience as complexity. The proof is perfect for me, full flavored, not hot, not watery. Turns out Macallan isn’t all overpriced garbage, although I effectively only paid $60 for this. Also, this is the 2019 release, and I’ve heard the more recent Classic Cut releases haven’t been as good.

Tasted immediately following a tasting of the 2018 release. The former has a more pronounced nose, whereas this one has a fuller palate. The 2019 nose is muted in comparison to the olfactorily profound 2018, but still shows the sherry influence with dates and honey, and cinnamoned apple pie. Modestly higher ABV (52.9% vs 51.2% for 2018) is virtually unnoticeable on the palate compared to the 2018. Noticeably pleasant vanilla on the back end of the finish. Tasted in Glencairn glass.

Clear orange mahogany. Noticeable sherry-influenced nose: dates, clove, honey, cinnamon, spice cake. Mixes with some vanilla and a bit of paraffin on the palate. Robust, but not overpowering: you know you’re not drinking a generic 86-proof dram (this is 105.8). I’ve got this and the 2018; need to look into acquiring more recent releases.