There are expensive Scotch whiskies, and there are expensive Scotch whiskies.
The 1991 Fine & Rare vintage—the Macallan’s newest release in their Fine & Rare collection—definitely falls into the latter category. At a cool $10,000, it can easily make you think about selling your first-born in order to get your hands on a bottle of the stuff.
The Macallan’s Fine & Rare collection was created in order to showcase, as you might expect, the finest stock that the Speyside distillery has to offer. The 1991 vintage is no exception to this. New make spirit was put into cask number 7021—an American oak Vasyma puncheon sherry seasoned in Jerez, Spain—and was filled on March 28th, 1991. It was bottled at its natural cask strength of 49.4% ABV, which, according to Macallan’s Master Whisky Maker Bob Dalgamo, is the ideal strength to enable full appreciation for and actualization of the intense yet soft flavors of the 1991 vintage.
Speaking of the palate, if you’re able to get your hands on this $10,000 Scotch whisky, you’re going to find a single malt Scotch that’s cinnamon in color and has apple, dried fruit and vanilla on the nose, in addition to ginger, spice, and almonds. The palate itself is soft, yet also incredibly intense, with sweet and spice working together to balance out notes of raisin and fig. On the finish, you’re going to get velvety sweetness, soft oak, fruit, and the overwhelming sense of winning at life for getting to drink such an expensive and exquisite Scotch whiskey.
If you’ve got the dough, and you’re serious about trying to get your hands on one of the 1991 vintage, you can email Inquiries.us@themacallan.com. Note that if you do, there is a one dram sharing fee with us here at The Manual.