A 1983 vintage Macallan 18 Year Old, bottled in 2001 at 43% ABV without added colour. The 750mL size is uncommon for this release, which was sold mostly in 70cl with a card tube.
About This Whisky
The 1983 vintage was distilled, filled into sherry casks from Jerez de la Frontera and left for 18 years before bottling in 2001. Retailers note it was bottled with no added colouring and without chill filtration. Tasting notes from specialist shops describe it as rich and dense, with prune, raisin, orange and chocolate. It sits near the end of the vintage-labelled 18 Year Olds, before Macallan redesigned the packaging in 2004 with the 1986 release.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Prune and raisin to the fore, lifted by orange zest, with dark chocolate and sweet oak behind.
- Palate: Full and smooth, with dried fruit, ginger, toffee and classic sherry oak spice.
- Finish: Long, with fruit cake, cocoa and gently drying oak.
Serving & Food
Pour it unchilled into a copita and taste it undiluted first. Pair it with braised beef cheeks, a board of Stilton and walnuts, or bitter chocolate tart.
How to Enjoy
A 1983 birth-year gift, and drinkers who want a mature Macallan with no colouring or chill filtration.
Product Details
Producer: The Macallan
Distillery: The Macallan, Easter Elchies, Speyside
Country: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Range: Sherry Oak
Vintage / Bottling: Distilled 1983, bottled 2001
Age: 18 years
Cask Type: Sherry oak, Jerez-sourced
ABV: 43%
Volume: 750mL
About the Distillery
The Macallan calls its stills curiously small, and the phrase has become part of its identity. Short, squat copper pots give the vapour plenty of contact with the copper and little height to climb, which keeps the new make heavy, oily and fruity. That weight is what lets the spirit stand up to long years in sherry oak without being flattened. When the distillery needed more capacity, The Macallan says it increased the number of these small stills rather than their size.