Part 1: Time, Wisdom and Wood; The Story of The Macallan Cask

Every story has its origins, every adventure a birthplace: ours begins in the oak forests of two continents.

There’s a reason we care so much about casks at The Macallan. Our story, and a significant part of what makes The Macallan the single malt it is today, is due to the investment of time, effort and resources that we make in our exceptional oak casks. We know that up to 80 percent of the The Macallan's flavour and 100 percent of its natural colour comes from these exceptional oak casks; which is why we believe our investment in the journey of our casks is worth it.

1: Historically, sherry-seasoned oak casks used for maturing Scotch whisky were simply convenient transport vessels for shipping sherry to the UK.

2: As the scotch industry developed, the demand for higher quality casks and the unique value of these sherry oak casks was realised.

3: American oak for maturing Scotch whisky likely began in the early 20th century, but became more prevalent due to the difficulties in obtaining Spanish oak casks during the Spanish Civil War.

The oak we use comes from two continents, America and Europe. Our American oak is harvested in Ohio, Missouri and Kentucky when they are approximately 70 years old. As American oak is more dense than its European relative, it is perfectly suited for creating both bourbon and sherry casks giving fresh fruit and vanilla notes, as well as golden colour to the whisky during maturation.

In contrast, the European oak we use is more porous and contains many more tannins than American oak, which although they take longer to mature, play a pivotal role in the colour and flavour of spirits. In fact, the European has up to five times more tannins, which provides the rich dried fruits and sweet spice notes, as well as dark gold and mahogany colours to our whisky. Heavy rainfall provides the perfect climate conditions for our European oak trees to slowly grow, and these are harvested in the in the regions of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria in the north of Spain and across the Pyrenees into southern France and across the Pyrenees into France when they’re around 100 years old.

Drying the oak is an integral part of the process of making casks. We need to dry the oak to ensure the heavy oils (which are very astringent) from within the wood, don’t spoil the precious spirit we wish to mature. Oak can be dried in two ways: Kiln dried, which is faster but can have a negative impact on the qualities we need for maturation, or air dried, which takes longer, but preserves the distinct flavour characteristics in the oak that we need the our whisky to draw out during maturation. At The Macallan, we appreciate and value the exceptional. It is a conscious choice to air dry the oak used to craft our casks.

For both the European and American oak, we air dry the entire logs for one year, at the place where the wood has been harvested. This reduces the moisture content of the oak; cutting down on weight for transport as well as reducing the moisture content before sawing.

Once the moisture content of the wood has been reduced after approximately one year of air drying, the wood is then cut into individual ‘staves’. Any wooden vessel that is intended to contain liquid will be ‘quarter sawn’, to ensure the direction of wood grains don't allow the liquid inside the cask to leak out. The American and European oak staves are then transported to Jerez de la Frontera in the south of Spain. Before being crafted into casks, these staves are left to dry for another year in the Spanish sun. Once the wood reaches between 12-16 percent moisture content, it can be passed to the coopers for ‘the rising’ of the cask.

It takes approximately six years to create a Macallan Sherry-Seasoned cask, from harvesting the tree to filling with our Macallan spirit, a journey we will continue to invest in, from the acorn to the casks that arrive in Speyside, due to the leading role they play in delivering the distinctive character, flavours and natural colour of The Macallan.