Macallan Edition No. 4

info: une 4e bouteille de la série "Edition" de Macallan. Cette fois-ci, il s'agit d'un jeu de 7 différent fût de sherry. On s'attendera donc à une combinaison d'arôme typique de sherry. Je fais un copier-coller pour ne pas avoir à vous répéter les 7 futs; "European/American Oak refill butts, European/American Oak refill hogsheads, American Oak first fill Vasyma hogsheads, European Oak first fill Diego Martin Rosado butts, European Oak first fill Jose Y Miguel Martin butts, European Oak first fill Tevasa butts/puncheons and European Oak first fill Tevasa hogsheads." Nez: Cannelle, zest d'orange et fruits rouges. Bouche: Il s'en passe des choses là dedans! Par ou commencer? Sur le même pieds en avant plan, on peut aller chercher les fruits rouges. Un bois de chène comme si l'on avait fait bruler des grains de café. Des dattes, des mures, des baies rouges. Zeste de citron. Définitivement des agrumes quelques part. Des raisins secs. Un miel croustillant (comme le miel qu'on goute dans les céréales). Très complexes. Final: un peu cuivré, arrière goût de Coca-cola, encore la cannelle, du café? des fruits rouges. Overall: Pricy mais je pense que c'est worth it vue la complexité. J'aime l'avalanche d'arôme qu'il offre. J'ai adoré le Macallan no 2 pour son intensité mais, ici on est plus dans la complexité pure que l'intensité. Je ne peux pas dire que l'on fait dans la dentelle quand même, c'est tout de même un 48,4%. (vs 48,2 pour le no 2) mais, en bouche le no 4 est plus doux. Le no 4 me semble plus complexe aussi. Le no 2 était un "punch in the face" de sherry, no 3 était un jeu d'épice sur le gingembre, le no 4 est un jeu de sherry complexe. Au risque de me faire lancer des roches, c'est le genre de jeu de sherry de Glendronach. Si vous avez aimé le Glendro 21, les chances sont bonne pour que vous aimez le no 4 (même si le Glendro 21 reste bien supérieur selon moi). Bref, ce que l'on doit retenir de ce scotch: énorme complexité aromatique en bouche, douceur et fruit rouge. Définitivement meilleur que le #3 mais, derrière le no 2 selon moi. Bref, Pour ma part, j'adore! Tout de même excellent ce no 4, 94%

The Macallan Edition Series never fails to send single malt collectors into a buying frenzy. After working my way through the Edition No. 3, I thought it was a good bottle, but certainly not worthy of the hype. Not to be deterred, I've picked up it's successor and here to see how it stacks up. Nose: Sherry notes are abundant. Raisins, dates, cranberry, and fig. Plum and a bit of cola and caramel. Some nail polish (like with No. 3, but not so prominent). Interesting wintergreen note. Finally, I get honey, toffee, and orange citrus. Leather is not immediately detectable but develops over time. Palate: More of the raisin, date, fig, and plum from the sherry influence. Cola and leather. Poundcake. Caramel, toffee, brown sugar, milk chocolate, vanilla, and syrup (not maple). The orange returns, accompanied by some apple. Finally, oak spice reveals itself in the form of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. Very similar to the nose, but offers a good deal more depth. Finish: Starts with some bitter orange peel. Vanilla and milk chocolate play together like ice cream cake, a note I regularly get on a Macallan palate/finish. This is brief though--it quickly transitions to cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove spice. Moderate in length. I think I gave the No. 3 a 3.5. I did a side-by-side with the two, and they came out about equal. I can't go above 3.25 for this one. That means it's time to reassess the No. 3... Anyway. Good whisky. Worth the craze? Absolutely not. I'd be quite happy with my purchase at $50. For the $100 I paid? No thank you. Secondary market prices? You'd have to be an absolute fool to pay anything north of $100. They nailed it on the palate, while the nose and finish are completely unremarkable. For $100, I want remarkable. This is heavily factored into my scoring. At the price point, the Macallan 15 remains the clear winner from this distillery, beating No. 3 and 4 by a healthy margin. No. 2 is on the way, and, spoiler alert, it will fare much better than its successors. Good whisky, poor value, misplaced hype.

It time to chronicle my experiences with some of these new Macallan NAS series: Editions. They have released a bottle of this every year since 2015. They are all experimental batches trying different blenders, wood types, etc. Prices have remained consistent on the retail market- about $90-100 for each batch. The secondary market has gone absolutely bonkers over Edition No. 1, though- with prices approaching $1000 for a bottle now. The clear answer to that is “No”. Let’s focus on the 2018 batch: Edition No. 4. It’s experiment is based on wood influence- primarily sherry cask (big shock that Macallan likes sherry wood). This one is dark, amber in the glass. Slightly watery while making skinny legs. It’s bottled at 48.4% and like all Macallan it’s non-chill filtered with no added color. The nose is predictably sherry-forward: grape sweetness with ripe, red berries, lightly toasted nuts and honey-dipped apple slices. It’s pretty complex the longer you sit and smell it and it’s very inviting. Classic Macallan. The palate is also sherry powered. There’s juicy citrus wedges, light vanilla with hints of harsh oak cutting through by mid sip. It’s not as oily on the mouthfeel as the Edition No. 3. The finish is medium length and surprisingly peppery for a Mac. Harsher than expected wood notes sting the tongue and throat a bit too much for my liking, but it does leave sherry lingering well after the sip comes to a close. Overall, this one is borderline classic Macallan. The added harshness isn’t expected or welcome. I can’t say I’d recommend this when you can easily save the extra $25-35 and have just as good of a time with the standard 12 year old or double cask. The sadder part is that my upcoming review of the Edition 3 reveals even more flaws in this series. I have an unopened bottle of No. 2 to still experience, but I won’t be paying a premium for the first release. 3.5 stars, max. Cheers.

Continuing on with the Macallan Edition series of annual releases, we come to Edition No. 4, again courtesy of @LeeEvolved. Bottled at 48.4% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of dark amber/copper. A slight nip of alcohol on the nose, followed by strong oak, honey and floral notes. Raisins, plums, cranberries, oranges and red apples. Fairly fruity, but all with a light sherry backbone. Tobacco, caramel, vanilla and a bit of allspice. Butter toffee, maple syrup and light mint chocolate. The palate is rich but not overtly sweet. Strong raisins, figs and oak. Walnuts, clove and nutmeg, along with a rather unpleasant acetone note that came and went not quickly enough. Plums, prunes, chocolate and orange zest. Sugary syrup, more peppery oak and a touch of cherry cough syrup. A light to medium bodied mouthfeel that is thin, watery and mouthwatering. The finish is long with oak, spice, sherry, light citrus and chocolate and black cherries. Compared to the last two (Editions 2 and 3), this one is the worst so far. Not to say it’s bad, but it just has less to offer. The nose is pretty good, a classic Macallan, but the palate was a bit harsh and lacked complexity a little. If the nose wasn’t as good as it was (which was nothing earth shattering) I would have scored this a 3.5, but I’m going with 3.75. Cheers

Macallan has released its "edition no. 4", which is part of a limited series that have been appearing yearly in the market. Edition No. 1 is almost dissapeared. No.2 was not good, no. 3 had a lovely aroma and this no. 4.... It is the best of all. As always i will start by saying that i am not a fond Macallan fan, but this, bought early, is a great and cheap dram. About $90 for it. It was released as a tribute for Macallan's new £140 million distillery. Bottled at 48.4%abv, chesnut color (amazing). The nose is your Macallan typical aroma on steroids. Super sweet, toffee, twix chocolate, butterscotch, reeses, dulce de leche, and that Macallan cut grass/ herbal note. Wonderful. On the palate is also sweet and spicy, with caramel, burnt caramel, milk chocolate, oak and clove notes. Aftertaste is long and balanced, thick. Incredible. Overall this deserves my respects, and i recommend you to buy it NOW when it is still cheap. Amazing dram, 91 over 100. Slainte.

Maybe it's cos it's Tuesday and I have a job and am alive that this tastes great..not to worried about covid19 killing me..i think the 4 week upcoming lock down with wife and kids from today will get there first when we all kill each other first. I read NZ exports food to feed 40 million people or 10 times the number of the population so we should be fine..beef eye fillet in plentiful supply and this whiskey always a good combo. Toffee, burnt caramel spicey. I quite like it. I thought after the oscuro LeeE provided it would have ruined Macallan for ever after for me but no it hasn't. It is weird though Macallan often has this characteristic which the more I drink it the more the slightly bitter astringent aftertaste which I don't notice at first builds up on my tongue and really detracts. The top notch ones Rare Black, Oscuro etc don't have it just their lower and mid range offerings. Anyhow started at a 4. 3.75 tops.