Macallan has released yet another limited collection of whiskies, exclusively for the travel retail market and guess what, they are already being sold in the secondary market for 4 times the price. Having said that, the Macallan Harmony collection are 4 single malts, called Smooth Arabica, Intense Arabica (the coffee expressions), and, Rich Cacao & Fine Cacao (the cocoa/chocolate expressions). All of them are 40%abv, and they are enviromentally friendly, even the box is made out of coffee and cocoa discarded husks. Well, i opened one of the Smooth Arabica ones, hoping for a coffee type dram, let's see how it went: On the nose, the typical Macallan classic, unmistakeable aroma: Snicker chocolate, Milky way, Tobblerone; old apples, sawdust, toffee and hazelnut. Very nutty as expected in any Macallan. Plums and dates. Fresh aroma that dropped in power after a first sip. On the nose, a very refined, fancy vanilla. Rum and raisins ice cream; Sawdust. Very oily with smooth vanilla notes. Cappuccino, lots of coffee beans notes here. Nice. Aftertaste was a perfect bitter coffee, an expresso. Hay. It feels exactly as a cup of an everyday normal coffee. Overall, i believe that Macallan fails to deliver a top whisky again (as per usual these days) but at least this time they did manage to give you something that actually smells and tastes like coffee, which is the name of the expression. What they intended to do, they accomplished, but it is not going to impress anyone. Not a bad whisky, maybe a mediocre nose is the part that drops the ball. Buy it if you find it on a duty free for the original price which is below 200, and then keep it stored for years. It will certainly be worth a lot more, then, buy a Glendronach with that money, lol. My score for it is a 86 over 100.
About this bottle
This is one of two whiskies released in second edition of The Macallan's Harmony Collection, a series which explores the brand's future packaging journey. This edition gets its inspiration from Ethiopian Arabica coffee beans. Both whiskies were crafted by Whisky Maker Steven Bremner and designed to pair perfectly with coffee. Sherry-seasoned American and European oak barrels were used in its maturation. The Macallan worked with paper expert Michele Posocco on the hybrid packaging which was made using repurposed and recycled materials including coffee bean husks. Smooth Arabica is intended to be the softer whisky of the two and has a slightly lower ABV at 40%. This bottling is a travel retail exclusive edition with key locations getting its allotment in November 2022. (SRP $185)
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 2 parsed reviews.
A bit harsh on the palate. Notes of toffee in aftertaste. Not my favorite
Tastes like this
Same style and price bracket, best rated first.
