Let’s see how the actual flavours match up. There’s probably quite a lot more to it, but that’s the biggest difference that I can discern between Macallan’s Fine Oak and Double Cask. The flavour transfer works both ways though, and the bourbon itself tends lend its own grain sweetness and light qualities to the cask, and therefore, eventually, the Scotch whisky. After all, the bourbon gets much of its vanilla and coconut flavours from the oak itself. It’s quite the departure from previous releases like the Fine Oak, or Triple Cask, which all incorporate the ex-bourbon casks in their production.įrom a drinker’s point of view, it is quite difficult to separate the flavour of bourbon from the flavour of American Oak. The American oak gives vanilla and cream notes to the whisky, and the European gives spice and tannin.īoth types of casks were seasoned only with sherry there’s not a drop of bourbon, even in the American oak. For the curious, the American white oak, quercus alba, was sourced from Ohio, Missouri and Kentucky, and the European oak, quercus robur, from Spain and the French Pyrenees. ![]() The eponymous double casks are the American and European oak casks that the whiskies were matured in. Which brings us, neatly, into what the Double Cask series is. ![]() We’ve covered it before, but Macallan has agreements with cooperages and bodegas in Spain, which gives it a steady supply of sherry casks and even a bit of leeway to do its own thing. There is also an opportunity to focus on refining its sherried whiskies. They can differentiate themselves from other whiskymakers, and keep things the same for the fans who have already fallen in love with the brand’s trademark sherry-and-oak flavours. This shift in focus will allow the distillery to play to its strengths and to build upon them. With the release of the 15 and 18 Year Double Casks, Macallan affirms that it has decided to move in the opposite direction from the mainstream. With the world whisky market growing, and producers needing an increasing number of casks to mature spirit and meet customer demand, while simultaneously keep the quality of their flavours high, the producers’ choice seems obvious- make more ex-bourbon cask whiskies. This allows the price of whisky production to be lower, and the ex-bourbon-cask-matured whisky to be sold more cheaply- or at larger profit margins- as sherried whiskies of comparable age. On the other hand, bourbon casks are still relatively cheap and available. What’s more interesting is the why one theory is that there are simply fewer good sherried casks to mature whisky in. That is not to say that all more recent sherried whiskies are necessarily inferior, but there will be those who think that. I think there’s some truth in this anecdotally, this has been my experience, too. There’s also some lively debate between whisky enthusiasts on the quality of the sherried whiskies as well it usually boils down to “past releases of sherried whiskies tasted better”. What this means is that sherry casks are getting increasingly rare and costly, and fewer sherried whiskies will be made available. If this continues, fewer new sherried casks will be available to impart their flavour to whisky.Īt the same time, the stockpiles of casks obtained as a happy side-effect of sherry’s boom days in the 1970s and 1980s are also slowly thinning out you can only fill a sherried cask with new-make whisky so many times before it runs out of flavour to give. There’s also a decreased production for sherry, overall. ![]() They’ve started to make more premium sherry, and shifted slowly away from the sweet, oxidised cream sherries to the dry, unoxidised fino styles. With the decreased demand for sherry, the bodegas that produce them have switched tactics. Let’s consider this while sherry is popular in the production of whisky, the wine itself has been languishing for some time. The catch is, this will be to the exclusion of the Fine Oak, Triple Cask and other whiskies made wholly or in part with spirit matured in ex-bourbon-casks. The word on the wind is that these sherried whiskies will eventually become the core of Macallan’s range. Peering beneath the surface, however, this has some interesting implications. Given the time that’s passed since then, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised that the Double Cask will now be released in 15 Years Old and 18 Years Old expressions. It’s been four years since the release of the original The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old. Tasting Notes: The Macallan Double Cask 18 Years Old.Tasting Notes: The Macallan Double Cask 15 Years Old.Tasting Notes: The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old.
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