The Macallan distillery was founded by Alexander Reid in 1824 and has gone on to be referred to by many as the ‘Rolls Royce of Whiskies’. Its international prestige is almost unmatched.
It is almost strange to imagine that this iconic whisky before the 1960s was mainly used in blends. After this point connoisseurs quickly went wild for the sweet and aromatic profile of the whisky as it went from strength to strength.
Currently owned by the Edrington Group the enormous production capacity is only really matched by the Glenfiddich. Out of the 170,000 casks stored onsite almost half of them sit within Spanish sherry casks which helps to impart the trademark sweetness of the scotch.
The Macallan also uses its own trademark brand of barley known as “Minstrel”. Over 40 different farms across Scotland and Northern England produce this strain.
In the past two decades The Macallan has been smashing records for the most expensive bottles of whisky ever sold, in 2019 a bottle was sold for $1.9 million.
