MACALLAN 10: FINE OAK SERIES

After doing a little background research on Aberlour for my last post, I was struck by how many comparisons I came across with the Macallan Sherry Oak Series. I went back and read what I had written about the Macallan 12, aged solely in sherry casks, and sure enough - it sounds incredibly similar. Then I saw the bottom when I had promised to review Macallan's double cask aged 10 year old malt for contrast. No time like the present...

The Macallan Sherry Oak Series malts are the only ones I have ever tasted (12 and 18 y.o.) that are solely aged in sherry casks, and with divine results. Aberlour is double casked. (first bourbon, then sherry), but credits the sherry character for much of its sumptuousness. Of the rest of the double cask malts we have tried so far, sherry casking is not necessarily the dominant force. Islay peat bombs mask much of the flavor and aroma; and some of the less exciting 10 and 12 year old malts reap more flavor and complexity from extra time in the sherry casks, peaking closer to 18 years old.

You would think the recipe for great scotch would be less bourbon, more sherry. Not so fast. Some of my favorite single malt scotches have never seen the inside of a Spanish oloroso sherry cask. Old Pulteney 12 and Glenmorangie 10 (both Highland whiskys) come to mind. Both manage to pack complexity and depth of flavor aging solely in used bourbon casks. It can be done, and done well.

In 2004, Macallan branched out and introduced its Fine Oak Series of single malts, aged first in bourbon casks, finishing in sherry. Sherry butts are incredibly expensive, and increasingly under short supply due to the upswing in popularity of scotch, compounded by a shrinking sherry drinker population. Perhaps out of necessity, Macallan saw the need to diversify. It makes sense to be looking well ahead in the future, since all the inventory you have available today was produced at least 10 years ago. You have to stay way ahead of the curve, which I believe to be the major reason behind so many distillers (Macallan included) abandoning age-statements altogether in favor of 'vintages'.

Full disclosure - this will be the first scotch I have reviewed in this blog of which I have not owned a bottle. My experience with Macallan 10 Fine Oak comes entirely from two separate occasions at the C Street Cafe in Carytown. My alma mater holds a yearly alumni hobnobbing event there, and the bartender seemed to know his stuff when I asked about their single malts.

I was immediately alarmed by the light color, given the copper tone of the fully sherry aged 12. It looks like chardonnay. Even smells a bit like it, too. It was served in a tumbler, not ideal for taking in all the nuanced aromas, but I would describe it as crisp and clean, like freshly sanded wood. I had just spent a weekend redoing my son's room in IKEA furniture and all I could think of was the smell of milled particle board. A very light fruitiness, maybe apricot. Vanilla wafers, although they can be sort of wooden too.

Like many a young scotch, it did not lack in sweetness. Vanilla, caramel, vaguely fruity. Surprisingly nutty in flavor, pecan most likely. A bit oily in texture, Seems light bodied, quite smooth and clean. Most of all, oak. It's the same combination of sweetness and oakiness I get drinking bourbon. Medium, drying finish. Bear in mind I am also trying to simultaneously hobnob, so maybe the scotch did not have my full attention while tasting it; but it didn't exactly earn it, either.

My lackluster first impression was confirmed upon a second visit the following year. By then C Street had added another single malt I had not yet tried, Balvenie 12, which I will save for another time. As far as the Macallan Fine Oak Series goes, consensus seems to be that the 15 is the way to go, and maybe regift that 10 year old bottle to a bourbon drinker. I get the impression Macallan is less than proud of it as well. On their website, the Fine Oak 10's subtitle asks, "Who says the Macallan isn't for cocktails?" Yikes! Sacrilege.

Overall Grade: 78/100, C+

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