The Macallan’s story is a tome, ever-growing with more pages stitched into its spine. Thus another chapter is added. One that puts The Macallan’s TIME:SPACE Collection in a new and exciting territory.
It’s the first whisky from the TIME:SPACE Collection to be seasoned with the distillery’s own Valdespino sherry. Since taking the reins of the historic Jerez sherry house, The Macallan has full ownership over every step of the maturation process, from oak forests of America and Northern Spain to the Valdespino bodega to The Macallan Estate in Speyside for the filling.
Kirsteen Campbell, The Macallan’s Master Whisky Maker, sees this as a milestone in the House’s ownership of its sherry seasoning. It is under The Macallan’s mastery and custodianship that we get the House’s colour and signature taste. It is under The Macallan’s oversight that the TIME:SPACE Sherry Cask is born.
The early stages of the TIME:SPACE Sherry Cask, were spent at The Macallan Estate in predominantly European oak sherry-seasoned casks that were hand-picked by the Whisky Mastery Team. It enters the next phase of maturation, which occurs in a selection of the first 200 casks seasoned at The Macallan’s Valdespino bodega in Jerez de la Frontera.
Left to mature in the distillery’s Jerez cooperages, the casks are shipped to Speyside for filling in 2024—the year of The Macallan’s 200th anniversary. A handful are drawn out of the 200 casks (the rest continues to mature for future bottlings), which leads us to the 20-Year-Old single malt.
And what of the bottle that holds this 20-Year-Old single malt?
Presented as a circular vessel, the design reflects The Macallan’s meditations on time. The interior of the presentation box is modelled after the palomino grapes that are grown at the Valdespino vineyards in Jerez de la Frontera; the incandescent glow of the bottle is reminiscent of the Andalusian sun whose light bathes the vineyards.
Within the confines of the bottle is a whisky that’s built on layered sherry influence. On the nose, you get sherry-soaked raisins, figs, and Medjool dates that sit alongside frangipani, cinder toffee and caramelised nuts; a warming spice simmers beneath.
On the palate, we get a full scope of the whisky’s profile: an adult’s tea time of ginger cake, treacle toffee, bramble jam, and chocolate-coated cherries. Then, it’s chased by woody spice, espresso, and oak notes.
The Macallan TIME:SPACE Sherry Cask retails for SGD1,800.00, and is available at The Macallan House Singapore
