To understand the complexity of making one of the world’s finest single malts, I journey not to Speyside, Scotland, but to Andalucía, Spain.
Whisky has its closely guarded secrets, and while it slumbers to maturation, thousands of molecular fissions take place, which make the final mature liquid so tantalizingly complex. What goes on inside the whisky cask is a mystery, perhaps revealed only to the Master of Whisky. But so much depends on the cask itself.
That’s why I’m in southern Spain, in the Andalusian city of Jerez de La Frontera, known more popularly as Jerez and pronounced as Herez. The culturally rich town is famous as the birthplace of flamenco, Spain’s signature folk dance and music, the dancing Andalusian horses, the great Carthusian thoroughbreds, and a renowned motorcycle GP circuit. But above all, it is the world capital of sherry, the well-known fortified wine that has driven the region’s economy for centuries. In fact, the name sherry is a derivation of Sherish, the old Moorish name for the city that later became Jerez.
Look closely at every Macallan Single Malt bottle and its packaging, and you will see the assertive mention of sherry casks, an acknowledgement that the bodegas and cooperages of Jerez and their great sherry traditions are an intrinsic part of the whisky’s famous heritage.
So, while the wind sings to the barley in Scotland, the whisky’s cask story unfolds in southern Spain. Wood is considered mandatory for ageing whisky, and its quality matters enough for The Macallan experts to look at its age, quality, and seasoning before it is made into a cask. And the wood, in this case, comes from the oak tree. The oak casks of The Macallan are responsible for 100% of its colour and up to 80% of the final flavour, so one can imagine their exceptional contribution to the creation of the final whisky that makes its way into the bottle.
The oak for the casks comes from the dark and old European oak found in the Galicia region of Northern Spain, as well as lighter American oak in Ohio and Kentucky. The oak, once selected, is air dried for up to 36 months, then crafted into single oak casks under the supervision of master coopers, as the specialized cask makers of Jerez are called. The casks are then toasted, literally on fire. Toasting activates wood sugars and brings out colour. It releases hints of vanilla, caramel, citrus, and coconut and light, bright colours in the American oak casks, which are younger wood. The European oak gets darker colours and notes of spices, candied citrus, and dried fruits.
Once toasted, the casks are filled with sherry, which will soak and penetrate the layers of wood for a minimum of eighteen months. The process from oak harvesting, drying the wood staves, and rising casks to sherry seasoning can take up to six years, after which the empty cask is shipped to Scotland ready to welcome the new whisky.
Naturally, the selection of sherry to season the cask is as crucial as the oak. At the sprawling Estevez estate’s Bodega Valdespino in Jerez, we stand amidst 25,000 barrels of sherry, some of which we taste, savour, and swirl around our palettes as we are guided through the process of making it, from fermenting to the finished product. These sherries range from dry, light Finos to deeper and heavier Amontillados, the distinct Olorosos, the quirky Paolo Cortados, and the Very Old (VOS) Sherries.
Unlike the vintage system of wines, sherry has a traditional system called Solera y Criaderas, where different vintages at different stages of ageing are blended. This results in a superbly dynamic flavour and age play. This complicated process is a testimony to the craftsmanship behind sherry.
Earlier, we walked the Macharmudo vineyards, the ‘Grand Cru’ of Jerez vineyards, where Palomino grapes most used for sherry ripen under the Levante and the Poniente winds, one dry, one humid. We see the chalky white Albariza soil that is characteristic of this area. They give the sherry its minerality, hints of which may appear later in your whisky. We learn about the ‘flor’ or the yeast that covers the sherry in the fermentation.
This yeast strain, I read later, is indigenous to Jerez, which adds to the legend of sherry. Two processes age the sherry biologically—one with the flor intact, which leads to paler sherries. And the second is an oxidative process where the flor layer is cracked open, in which case the exposure to oxygen provides the sherry with a deeper and richer colour.
Whisky makers have a choice of sherries, but for The Macallan, the chosen sherry is Dry Oloroso, also known as ‘the fragrant one’. It is a purely oxidative sherry with about 17% alcohol, elegantly aged with a rich mahogany colour. It is described as dry but has a hint of sweetness. Its nutty, spicy cocoa and balsamic notes will seep into the oak, infusing it with another layer of notes.
At a delightful food and sherry pairing lunch hosted at the Estevez estate, our palates are turned into a playground for the versatile and varied world of sherry. It is a valuable master class because many of these notes will reflect in the single malts we will taste later.
The main event is the evening dinner, where we will experience The Macallan in all its glory. The venue is set against a stunning sunset at the nearby Bristol Vineyard, decorated with equally stunning pictures of oak, water, and barley by American photographer Erik Madigan Heck.
‘Add a drop of water to your whisky,” says The Macallan’s Nicola Riske, leading us through the tasting. Yes, she is right. Water makes the flavours explode. “Smile”, she adds as we inhale the aromas. It isn’t just a social hint, but smiling into your glass lets you ‘nose’ the aromas better. The technical terms in whisky tasting are colour, nose, palate, and finish, taking you step by step to the crescendo of aromas and flavours.
The Macallan comes in various natural flavours and colours in their different expressions. Each cask provides a distinct flavour and colour that personifies the considerable artistry of the Macallan Mastery Team. I can smell the lemon and vanilla of the 12-year-old Double Cask, indicative of its American oak cask journey, followed by a subtle taste of bitter orange and toffee. It is a nice balance to our first course’s umami-laden creamy rice and mushroom starter.
The 15-year-old we are next served opens with a whiff of apple pie. Its palate has hints of cinnamon and raisins, though you need to sip and hold to let the taste through. It teams well with our next course of vegetable lasagna and red cabbage sauteed in sweet soy sauce.
The dessert, a dark chocolate fondant with candied orange and dulce le leche ice cream, is paired with the 18-year-old Double Cask. The tasting notes are treacle, raisins, and dried apricots on the palate. The finish makes me want to linger undisturbed. It leaves a long, warm trail, mellow with a hint of sherry sweetness. All in all, a memorable dinner.
The next day, we are subject to a different experience. Single malt cocktails are trending across the world, and so are food experiments. At the La Carbona restaurant near the Mercado, we see a chef-led demonstration of dishes and cocktails, including sherry and single malt. I try the Copa, a summery-light cocktail with a splash of single malt over a mountain of ice cubes, tonic water and a citrusy lemon and orange burst.
There are many things that contribute to The Macallan legend. Its aura of quiet luxury, the impeccable credentials that come from a tradition of finessing single malts since 1824, and the antique whiskies that make them worthy collectors’ items.
To celebrate the play of cask and natural colour, The Macallan recently launched The Colour Collection. This range has five age statement single malts —12, 15, 18, 21, and 30 years which will be exclusively available duty-free for global travelers. From the golden oak of the 12-year-old to honey and light copper, autumnal maples and finally, the deep chestnut of the 30-year-old, it is a vivid and natural spectrum, each borrowing its hues from its cask.
They are aged in predominantly American sherry seasoned oak with a touch of European, giving the spirit a naturally lighter colour. All these come together to create a nuanced taste expression. This flavour style is rich, sweet, and vibrant with the underlying depth of sherry that we discover as we are led through the notes at Casa Palacio Maria Luisa in Jerez’s old quarter.
The Macallan has also now made it easy for international travellers to experience their various expressions at bespoke’ scent stations’ at select duty-free stores and boutiques. Here, they can explore notes and flavours before making their purchase.
To add to the aura, The Macallan’s modern packs are designed by David Carson, a well-known American graphic designer, who fittingly took his inspiration from Jerez, its changing landscape and seasons, its soil and colours.
One thing I take away from the Jerez experience is that The Macallan brooks no compromise in the way its whisky expressions are created. Everything is done in a manner that is studied and deliberate — the way the oak casks are made, how it is seasoned, the beautiful marriage of oloroso and wood, and then the magic of the maturation. It speaks of a tradition where nothing can be hurried. Not the oak, not the sherry and not the whisky. That’s the story that whispers in your glass.
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