The Macallan – Limited Edition 2018 – Classic Cut 51,2% ABV!

Dear friends, followers, and supporters alike! When working the Stockholm Beer and Whisky festival last year (for Edrington Sweden) we had the 2018 edition of The Macallan Classic Cut with us, and so I was generously allowed to draw a small sample of it for reviewing! We are just "a little" behind here in Sweden with the release, and I've held on to the sample for five months, but now, finally, this whisky is released at the state monopoly on thursday the 4th of april! Please click here to have a look at the product. 

Now, as you all probably know by now, Classic Cut is an annual limited edition since 2017, with each years version showcasing a new "flavor profile". While the 2017 flavor profile was Creamy vanilla, sweet ginger, warming oak, the 2018 profile is Citrus, sweet vanilla, spice as can be seen from this picture:

The (vatting) strength this time around is 51,2% and the casks used are "sherry seasoned oak casks from Jerez, Spain" as the label below says.

Well ok folks, let's do some analyzing!

Nose:

Nosing gently a couple of centimetres from the glass the first thing that whiffs by is warm apple jucie (must; or rather warm apple cider), this is however not predominant. Nosing closer and properly I find that the centre of the nose holds vanilla fudge, classic oloroso sherry (dried figs), honey sweetness (yes, very much of sluggish/viscid light honey), and at the same time something a tad salty. Surrounding this layer is a touch of something citric together with the strength/ABV that comes through in a bit of a rough way… If I remeber the 2017 CC correctly, this version is not as ”deep” and ”heavy” on the (european oak) oloroso as the previous, so probably predominantly american oak oloroso in the recipe of this version. 

Taste:

Oh yes, definitely predominatly american oak sherry in this version; burnt citrus, heavy on the vanilla, lightly roasted almonds, a tad salty. Then comes the actual sherry flavours with dried figs and light and dark raisins. This is taken over rather quickly by an ”oaky-ness”, and most of all a medium to heavy dryness. In the early aftertaste the vanilla comes back once more with just a tad of leather and a whiff of melted butter. At the end of the aftertaste, the strength/ABV shows itself and the flavour ends with dryness. 

Some reflections to sum up:

The nose actually kind of reminds me of something like an unpeated Highland Park in style, very interesting to think about! The taste is a little ”flat” and even though I’ve written down quite a lot of phases in the taste, I sadly do feel that this dram is a bit boring (”simple”). It also seems to me, but this is just a guess, that there is more young whisky in this version; the previous version nosed and tasted older. If it was up to me to design the recipe of CC 2019 I would up the age, up the use of european oak sherry, and, up the strength! That said, this is not a bad whisky (it tastes good for sure); rather I’d say that the minimum quality at The Macallan is high, if you know what I mean 

Finally, a big thanks to the nice people at Edrington Sweden for allowing me to draw a sample of this one and for the great opportunity to review the whisky before its swedish release! For kind of weekly updates please make sure to follow my FB-page by clicking here, my instagram by clicking here, and my twitter-page by clicking here. Copyright © and All Rights Reserved on all tasting notes and text by SamuelWhisky and pictures and videos likewise belong to SamuelWhisky, unless stated. If you would like to use any such material that belongs to SamuelWhisky or associated with SamuelWhisky, please ask by sending me an email to samuelkarlssonorebro [at] gmail [dot] com and by stating the source.