Distilled in 1979 and bottled in 1997, this Macallan Gran Reserva is an 18-year-old sherry-cask single malt from an earlier generation of the distillery's releases. It was bottled at 40% ABV and shows the dark, dense style Macallan made its name with.
About This Whisky
Spirit from 1979 went into sherry casks and came out in 1997, after 18 years. Gran Reserva sat apart from Macallan's standard age statements and has long been discontinued. The label of the period describes it as a Single Highland Malt, the regional term Macallan used at the time. It was bottled at 40% ABV. Store the bottle upright and out of the light to protect the cork and the level.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Raisin, fig and orange peel, with dark chocolate, old leather and polished wood.
- Palate: Full and rich, with Christmas cake, treacle, clove and mature oak.
- Finish: Long and warming, with cocoa, dried fruit and sweet oak.
Serving & Food
Serve neat in a small nosing glass and let it rest after pouring. Given its age and 40% strength, leave the water jug aside. Match it with Christmas pudding, dark chocolate truffles, or walnuts with aged Parmigiano.
How to Enjoy
A special-occasion pour for Macallan enthusiasts, or a reference point for comparing older sherry-cask Speyside with today's bottlings.
Product Details
Distillery: The Macallan
Country: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Series: Gran Reserva
Vintage / Bottling: 1979 / 1997
Age: 18 years
Cask Type: Sherry cask
ABV: 40.0%
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
The Macallan took out its licence in 1824, when Alexander Reid began distilling on the Easter Elchies land above the Spey near Craigellachie. For most of its history the whisky matured only in oak casks that had held sherry, shipped from Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain. Bourbon-cask whisky did not join the main range until the Fine Oak series of 2004, so a 1979 distillation like this one belongs wholly to the all-sherry era. The still house grew from six stills to twenty-one between 1965 and 1975, which means this 1979 spirit came off the enlarged distillery.