Anecdotes of Ages Collection
The River Spey
The iconic River Spey flows through the heart of Speyside and The Macallan Estate.
On the Border of The Macallan Estate
Each label of the 13 original bottles of the Anecdotes of Ages Collection details unique stories relating to The Macallan’s history, community, and the beautiful natural landscape of The Macallan Estate. On this bottle, Sir Peter Blake’s playful collage places a native red squirrel on the shoulder of our current Ghillie, Robert Mitchell.
The construct reflects the man’s open affinity for riverbank wildlife as well as his guests when tending his enviable beat. In 1991, The Macallan became the sole Distillery in Scotland to own fishing rights on the Spey, perhaps the most richly storied salmon river in the world. Robert is a feast of fish tales.

The Story Behind the Label
The same should be said of the whisky in this bottle. The clear spring water for its specific mash was sourced in the same year that George Low first began work at The Macallan. From one of the curiously small stills (as permanent a feature at the Distillery as the Spey itself) the new make spirit would have been carefully syphoned into a European sherried oak cask, and left to mature for half a century.








Lead Whisky Maker Sarah Burgess’ selection was made after careful nosing, as she sought out richly evocative flavour notes to contribute character, depth and distinction to the proposed collaboration. A unique spirit, the familiar flavours are augmented by sensual notes exclusive to that outturn: strawberry, sweet oak, light nutmeg and warm chocolate.
The parallel between this single malt and the River Spey is too seductive to ignore. The whisky, like the river at any given moment, might appear constant and predictable, but each bottling is never quite the same as the one that flowed before. For this 1967 masterpiece, it’s a truth that can only add to its wonderful allure.
Rising high in Corrieyairack Forest of the Cairngorms mountain range..
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%






