This 30-year old Macallan-Glenlivet was distilled February 1963 and bottled Cask Strength June 1993 on behalf of Wm. Cadenhead’s for their exceptional Authentic Collection. Members of Whiskybase awarded this with an average of +91 points.
Macallan-Glenlivet 1963 30 Years Cadenhead (ABV 54.7%)
Here’s a rare old unsherried Macallan, just one month older than Olivier. Quite unusual! The colour is incredibly pale, like some white wine’s, and at first nosing it’s mellow and warming. Beautiful nose with cold coffee, flowers from the fields, freshly cut apple, gooseberry. No sherry at all. Hints of liquorice, gets a little grassy. Very nice, it helps check that Macallan is a very fine distillery, not only a special wood treatment factory. The first mouthfeel is quite balanced, but extremely powerful. Malty and yeasty (fresh bread crumb), then grassy (rhubarb) with lots of liquorice stick and wood. Gets a little too spirity (pear, apple). Too bad, the palate doesn’t match the nose. Again, it’s bold and robust, but a little too simple: it lacks some finesse, even if we can find some interesting aspects in it. No need to tell that nobody would say it’s Macallan when tasting it blind… In fact, both Olivier and I become to feel tired after having tasted all these unsherried cask strength Speysiders. Duty, heavy duty, but this isn’t the most attractive Scottish style… Time to switch to heavy-sherry mode!!! Our ratings for the Mac: SV: 86 points, OH: 88 points.
Distillery | Macallan-Glenlivet |
Classification | Single Malt Whisky |
Bottle No./Released | -/- |
Vintage | February 1963 |
Age | 30 |
Bottler | Cadenhead |
Bottling Date | June 1993 |
ABV/ Volume | 52.6%/ 70cl |
Rating/SGP | -/- |
Cask Number | - |
Type: Speyside - Edrington