Smooth Arabica is the travel retail bottling from the second edition of The Macallan Harmony Collection, a series that pairs single malt with another craft. This time the partner is coffee, and the whisky takes its cue from the Ethiopian Arabica bean, aiming for the soft, gently spiced feel of an americano.
About This Whisky
Whisky maker Steven Bremner built Smooth Arabica from sherry-seasoned European oak, for the coffee-like richness, and sherry-seasoned American oak, which brings vanilla and a softer, sweeter edge. It sits alongside a sister bottling, Intense Arabica, which is richer and stronger at 44%; Smooth Arabica is the lighter of the two at 40% ABV. It was released in November 2022 through airport and travel retail stores. The box is made partly from coffee bean husks, a by-product of roasting, and its green colour stands for the unroasted bean.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Ground coffee, hazelnuts and sweet raisin, then dark cherry, toffee, vanilla and sweet oak.
- Palate: Americano, raisins and cherries, with soft spices, walnut, vanilla and oak.
- Finish: Lingering coffee bean that turns sweet and creamy.
Serving & Food
Macallan designed this to be tasted next to a cup of coffee, so try it that way: a small pour at room temperature in a tulip glass beside a black filter coffee. Afterwards it works with tiramisu, hazelnut financiers or a slice of coffee and walnut cake.
How to Enjoy
Coffee lovers curious about how the two drinks meet, and a gentle, sherry-led Macallan for a relaxed afternoon.
Product Details
Producer: The Macallan
Country: Scotland
Region: Speyside
Series: The Harmony Collection, second edition (coffee)
Expression: Smooth Arabica
Style: Single malt Scotch whisky
Cask: Sherry-seasoned European and American oak
Age: No age statement
Release: Global travel retail, November 2022
ABV: 40%
Volume: 700mL
About the Distillery
The Macallan's modern shape dates from 1892, when Roderick Kemp, a spirits merchant from Elgin who already had a stake in Talisker, bought the distillery from James Stuart. Kemp rebuilt and enlarged the site and renamed it Macallan-Glenlivet, and his insistence on sherry casks is still treated as part of his legacy. After his death in 1909 a family trust kept the distillery in Kemp hands, and his descendants ran it for most of the twentieth century until Highland Distillers bought them out in 1996.