Anecdotes of Ages Collection

Easter Elchies House

Easter Elchies House is our Spiritual Home and features proudly on the label of every bottle of The Macallan.

A story in every Stone...

Each unique label of the 13 original bottles details stories relating to The Macallan’s history, community, and natural landscape of The Macallan Estate.

Sir Peter Blake’s ghostly artwork for this unique label is a wonderful tribute to The Macallan’s Spiritual Home. Easter Elchies House has existed since at least 1453. Ransacked by Jacobite soldiers because of the owners’ Hanoverian sympathies, it was reconstructed in 1700 for Captain John Grant, whose family and descendants are interred in the mausoleum on the Estate.

After falling into disrepair, the manor house was finally and happily returned to The Macallan’s possession in 1959. Today, fully restored, its image features proudly on every bottle that leaves the premises.

Anecdotes of Ages Collection Easter Elchies House Label Designed by Sir Peter Blake

The Story Behind the Label

Sir Peter Blake’s ghostly artwork for this unique label is a wonderful tribute to The Macallan’s Spiritual Home. Created in black and white, perhaps reflecting some dark days, the label’s centre of artistic gravity is the Second World War.

Easter Elchies House was requisitioned for military use and distilling was outlawed from 1943 until hostilities ceased. From here, both battle plans and personnel were dispersed to various fronts throughout the conflict. The captains WE Johns, of Biggles books fame, and WF Player, of the cigarette dynasty, were just two celebrated tenants among many drawn to hunting, shooting and fishing holidays.

The Macallan Anecdotes of Ages Collection Easter Elchies House in open box with collage

Anecdotes of Ages Collection Pack box closed

The Macallan Anecdotes of Ages Collection Easter Elchies House Bottle

The Macallan Anecdotes of Ages Collection Easter Elchies House beside box

The Macallan Anecdotes of Ages Collection Easter Elchies House in open box

The Macallan Anecdotes of Ages Collection Easter Elchies House in open box with tab open

The Macallan Anecdotes of Ages Collection Easter Elchies House Photo by Mary McCartney

This prized bottle’s content is a 1967 outturn of a gloriously golden hue. Carefully selected for its expressive flavour notes by Sarah Burgess, it delivers rich hints of light spiced peach, nutmeg and ginger, whilst remaining true to the whisky’s sweet oak and hazelnut depths.

A one-off, it is an astounding single malt. Mary McCartney’s contemporary photograph shows the bottle against the moonlit manor, an echo perhaps of the monochrome posters for classic 1940s films. Intrigue, atmosphere and suspense swirl about the bottle, unmistakably featured as the hero of the piece. There could not be a more fitting way to record the poised and precious spirit that waits within.

In happier times, straddling the war years, the building also played host to sporting parties and some notable guests.

No doubt, their enthusiasm was further heightened at the prospect of a warming dram as dusk descended, colour fading from the landscape. That potent pairing of a magical glass with the descending sun continues today for the welcome guests who stay at Easter Elchies.

The Experience

Colour

Caramelised peach
Nose

Classic antique oak, dried fruit and fig combined with hints of pineapple and mango layered with a decadent chocolate strawberry note
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
Finish

Complex with a medium to long finish of chocolate, sweet oak and lightly spiced peach
ABV

46.7%

Anecdotes of Ages Collection Easter Elchies House Label Mood Shot with angled bottle

AN ARTISTIC PRESENTATION

The outer box for these special whiskies has been modelled on Sir Peter Blake’s own traditional art supply box, bringing together the world of art and whisky. A squirrel is laser etched on a removable panel, revealing a thumbnail photography collage documenting Sir Peter’s journey with The Macallan for the creation of this collection.

On the side a sliding drawer features Sir Peter’s signature laser etched into the oak. Within is a leather bound book sustainably sourced in Scotland, revealing the 13 unique stories behind the full Anecdotes of Ages Collection.