Anecdotes of Ages Collection
Cattle, Barley and Potatoes
For all the modern wonders of technology, an ancient truth remains at heart of The Macallan. Whisky making begins with barley. Without it, the single malt slumbering in oak casks stored across the Estate would never have come into being.
Wartime Decisions
The original label collage art designed by Sir Peter Blake shares one of The Macallan’s special stories relating to our community, history and The Macallan Estate’s beautiful natural landscape.
Livestock and arable farming have co-existed alongside the Distillery since it was founded. Potatoes planted in abundance during the Great War kept the local populace alive. Twenty-seven years later, following a second worldwide conflict, both the farm and the Distillery were crying out for modernisation.
Prudence was necessary. With funds in short supply following the wartime shut-down, crops were favoured over livestock and the machinery of whisky distillation was upgraded. Farming soldiered on as best it could, elderly buildings notwithstanding, its fortunes fortunately never measured in monetary gain.

The Story Behind the Label
As for barley, this important crop continues to be grown on The Macallan Estate. Animals and crops belong here. There is no doubt that farming will always play an accompanying part in the life of The Macallan.








On the label of this bottle, photographed by Mary McCartney on the damp, dark rocks of Easter Elchies, a trio of farm animals take centre stage against a backdrop of ripening barley.
The relationship between nature and whisky making is an ever-present motif in the history of The Macallan.
The Experience
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Colour
Caramelised peach
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Nose
Classic antique oak, dried fruit and fig combined with hints of pineapple and mango layered with a decadent chocolate strawberry note
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Palate
Warm chocolate with light nutmeg and ginger, oak spices and sweet oak opening into pineapple and coconut with an unexpected strawberry and hazelnut burst
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Finish
Complex with a medium to long finish of chocolate, sweet oak and lightly spiced peach
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ABV
46.7%




