The Macallan was founded in 1824 by Alexander Reid, a local farmer, who leased eight acres from the Earl of Seafield to grow barley in the 1700s. The Edrington Group owns the distillery, a traditional sherry whisky house with distinctive big oak, flowery, and spicy flavors.

The Macallan is the third best-selling single malt in the world by volume behind Glenfiddich and The Glenlivet and a component of the Famous Grouse, the best-selling Blended Scotch Whisky in the U.K. Nonetheless, it is one of the most polarizing brands in whisky. The brand makes an intentional effort to symbolize luxury, great taste, and a great investment opportunity. However, some expressions can be perceived as heavily marketed and overpriced.

The Macallan is known for its collections and series. The Fine and Rare Collection is the most popular worldwide among whisky collectors. The collection started in 2003 with thirty bottlings of at least thirty years of age and later expanded to fifty-seven. Master Blender Bob Dalgarno nosed about 600 casks and selected one or two from each year to create vintage bottlings, with each label in the bottle reflecting the vintage. i.e., 1958.

From this collection, The Macallan Fine and Rare 60-Year-Old vintage 1926 holds the status of the most expensive bottle of whisky ever sold at auction when in 2019 it sold for a record-breaking $1.9m at Sotheby’s in London.

The Macallan brand values

The Six Pillars are the values on which the brand image is sustained. These are…

• The Spiritual Home. Refers to Macallan’s grand highland estate built in the 1700s in the Easter Elchies. Scottish Highlands. The Macallan defines its whisky as Highland Whisky, even though the estate and distillery are in the Speyside region, which is sometimes seen as a sub-region of the Highlands.
• Curiously Small Stills. Macallan maintains small copper stills to create a fruity, heavy, and robust style to set them apart from other distilleries.
• The Finest Cut. While other distillers use the entire heart of the run, The Macallan only uses only 16% of the heart of the distillation for their whiskies to ensure quality and consistency.
• Exceptional Oak Casks. Quality oak from Gonzalez Byass Bodega in Jerez, Spain. European oak is filled with sherry and left to season for two years.
• Natural Colour. No caramel coloring (E150a), only the wood must provide the color of a whisky.
• Peerless Spirit. Based on the production, people, and passion of those who made the whisky.

The Macallan Quest Collection

The Quest Collection launched in 2018 to replace The Macallan 1824 Collection, which included the Select Oak, Whisky Maker’s Edition, and Estate Reserve bottlings.

The Quest Collection is exclusive to travel retail to showcase the influence of the oak in four non-age statement single malts. The expressios from the collection are: Quest, Lumina, Terra, and Enigma.

The Macallan Quest

The first expression of The Macallan Quest Collection was aged in European and American oak seasoned with sherry, American ex-Bourbon, and hogshead casks and bottled at 40% ABV.

Palate: A light whisky that brings citrus, vanilla, and oak flavors. Pairing the malt with white chocolate enhanced the tasting. An enjoyable malt if you want to keep things simple and on the light side.

The Macallan Lumina

This expression was aged in European and American oak seasoned in sherry and hogshead casks and bottled at 41.3% ABV. Lumina was not available at the tasting.

The Macallan Terra

The third single malt in the Collection is Terra, aged exclusively in first-fill sherry casks (Tevasa and Vasyma oak from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain) and bottled at 43.8% ABV.

Palate: A rich sherry arrival with cinnamon, dried fruits, and plenty of woody spices linger in the background. The sherry note offsets the spices from the oak. Pairing the malt with raisings, almonds, and apricot enhanced the experience.
The Macallan Terra is a single malt for those who like sweet sherry with some oak influence.

The Macallan Enigma

Enigma is the peak of the range, aged in first-fill sherry butts (Tevasa oak) and bottled at 44.9% ABV.

Palate: The Macallan Terra is the most intense expression in the range because of its sweet arrival rich in wood spices. The leather and sherry flavors stand out, but the tannins from the oak make this whisky less balanced than The Macallan Terra. The Macallan Enigma paired well dark chocolate and perhaps with a robust cigar.

I hope you enjoyed this brief review of The Macallan Quest Collection. I will love to hear your thoughts about your favorite expressions of this brand. You can check more reviews on Scotch whisky here. Cheers!

Scores:

• Quest: 3.5/5 ⭐
• Terra: 4/5 ⭐
• Enigma: 3.75/5 ⭐
• The Quest Collection 3.75/5 ⭐