Macallan 1876

Description

Macallan 1876 – Collectible Whisky

Macallan 1876 is the third bottle in the set of 5 of Macallan’s famous ‘Replica’ series, the 1876 edition which was bottled in 2003.  The set of 5 bottles have an interesting back story and include The Macallan Distillers Limited (as it was known at the time) buying a number of old and rare bottles during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

These old bottles were then used as the source to create the replica series where Macallan tried to replicate the nose, the taste and the packaging of some of their bottles from earlier times.  They drew a tiny sample from the bottle and together with his team of expert nosers, began to search for whisky which matches the profile.

As well as replicating the whisky they were determined to recreate the 1876 bottle and labels. The challenge for Stolzle Flaconnage was to reproduce the idiosyncratic irregularities of a mid-19th-century mouth-blown bottle with 21st-century technology. To reconstruct the labels, calligrapher Carol Kemp re-drew the individual letters.

This highly collectable, limited release Macallan 1876 Replica bottling was designed to recreate the spirit and overall style of Macallan as of 1870s-1880s. This is when Macallan was under the guardianship of James Stuart & Co. Owners of the Macallan Distillery from 1868-1892

This incredible whisky was bottled at 40.6%% abv and comes complete with its original presentation box.

Tasting Notes

When two casks of pre 20th century Macallan whisky was found it was decided that there should be a release of this old-style Macallan. Bob Dalgarno, Macallan’s master blender set about recreating them. This is the third release in the series.

Nose:  On the nose, fruity, vanilla, toffee, cinnamon, oak, light smoke, spicy

Palate: Rich in summer fruits, both fresh/citric and dried, with traces of spice. Light vanilla fudge, sweet oak and wood spice.

Apparently a 95 point whisky in the view of the late (and great) Michael Jackson, the whisky reviewer.  This is very much one for the collectors, which is why it’s not priced as an everyday drinking whisky.