Three particularly memorable Macallan's for me were the 1946 Select Reserve (in the box with the key) which had hints of smoke, the 1938 handwritten label and the pick of the three the 1938 Speymalt which was sublime. Looking in my records I see that over 15 years ago I paid just over £5000 for the first two from the Whisky Exchange and £1950 for the latter from Bonhams in Edinburgh which was reported in the local paper and I certainly thought I was really pushing the boat out. Different times!!
My friend you certainly struck while the iron was hot. Great foresight! Yes those older Speymalts are truly value gems considering all OB casks that G&M had from Macallan and that Macallan bought many back later so same exact juice as OB would have been at a fraction of the price. Same argument as OB as with this dram is of course imagine at cask strength like the mentality of today’s IB’s although with that the bottle yield would have been quite depressing and perhaps not have been feasible at the time profit-wise given the vastly different demand landscape from today. Cheers my friend!
Are you guys going to do a top 5 of 2023? Really look forward to your top 5 more than anyone else's. You guys got me into Scotch when i was just a bourbon and rye guy, and now I've developed an insatiable lust for springbank. Always look forward to your videos and thank you for what you do. Hope you have a great 2024!
Had the pleasure of having lunch and a few drinks with Jonny this weekend on the last day of the Singapore Sothebys auction and had a interesting young macallan that was bottled in the 70s
Thank you Keith! Ya it was an eye opener for me right when you think you have experienced a lot in whisky you realize you are just scratching the surface. Crazy!
Awesome vid--thanks for sharing. I saw Mark's video on that bottle. Really cool stuff. My oldest Macallan is a '39 GM OB bottle I opened for a "decades" tasting in June where we had spirits from eleven different decades (Ragnaud 1870s cognac, a Mauxion bons bois cognac of mine from 1900, 1903 Cedar Brook Plankinton bourbon and on up). The '39 Mac unanimously beat my '79 Gran Reserva we did as a side-by-side. Great stuff.
Awesome stuff! Yah we need to get together one day and do a blind “decades” tasting of Macallan 20s v 30s v 40s v 50s v 60s v 70s without any knowledge of peat. Would be fascinating! I searched high and low on the old interwebs and could not find any mention of PPM levels for various decades. Perhaps I could email Macallan and see if they even still know or respond. Haha! Maybe Bessie’s grandkids have records. Cheers brother!
@@maltreviewsThat would certainly be a fascinating tasting! To see the evolution, changes and similarities over time would be very cool, esp. doing it blind. I'd also be curious to see how far back Macallan's files go. With old bottlings still being released (like The Reach), maybe they do still have records. Cheers!
The question of the day - who is buying all these super expensive Macallans? You can talk about rarity, but if you look at any action sites, there are pages and pages of these bottles. Also, seems like there are new "super rare limited edition" bottles coming out every month from Macallan. IMO - its either clueless hedge funds or Macallan themselves(indirectly).
Bygone era. Sadly these are now out of reach for most of us, but you can still find mid century gems from other “lesser” distilleries at decent prices and get a very similar experience. Cheers Mike.
Great review as always, absolutely luv the passion! My good friend is getting married down in OC this summer and would love it if you could give me some spots that you think are bucket list worthy level whisky joints in the area would be so much appreciated. Thanks as always for your great reviews, legend!
Peat : I wonder "heavily peated" here of Laga-21 (1985) & Samaroli LAPHG may be near 20-25 ppm ? Islay malts loses more and more peat (becomes "softer") in time, thus older Islay whiskies may have peat level near Bowmore/Highland Park of 20ppm-ish . . . maybe, THIS peated sherry Speysider-style is the new tomorrow wave ??
From what I can find, being prior to today’s spirit regulations as you refer to, it has nothing to do with added ingredients like today and rather was for marketing purposes to appeal to a wider audience than just old school whisky drinkers to increase demand. But please if anyone from the industry out there or who knows better please educate us. Great question my man! Cheers! 🥃
Miss you guys. Hope you're both keeping well
Miss more frequent reviews. Stay well
Three particularly memorable Macallan's for me were the 1946 Select Reserve (in the box with the key) which had hints of smoke, the 1938 handwritten label and the pick of the three the 1938 Speymalt which was sublime. Looking in my records I see that over 15 years ago I paid just over £5000 for the first two from the Whisky Exchange and £1950 for the latter from Bonhams in Edinburgh which was reported in the local paper and I certainly thought I was really pushing the boat out. Different times!!
My friend you certainly struck while the iron was hot. Great foresight! Yes those older Speymalts are truly value gems considering all OB casks that G&M had from Macallan and that Macallan bought many back later so same exact juice as OB would have been at a fraction of the price. Same argument as OB as with this dram is of course imagine at cask strength like the mentality of today’s IB’s although with that the bottle yield would have been quite depressing and perhaps not have been feasible at the time profit-wise given the vastly different demand landscape from today. Cheers my friend!
Any whisky of the year 2023 video gents? Never too late!
Hope all is well. Cheers.
Are you guys going to do a top 5 of 2023? Really look forward to your top 5 more than anyone else's. You guys got me into Scotch when i was just a bourbon and rye guy, and now I've developed an insatiable lust for springbank. Always look forward to your videos and thank you for what you do. Hope you have a great 2024!
Hope all is well, any update on the future of Malt Reviews? Great reviews over the years of phenomenal whiskies, wish you the best🥃
Had the pleasure of having lunch and a few drinks with Jonny this weekend on the last day of the Singapore Sothebys auction and had a interesting young macallan that was bottled in the 70s
Saw that! Super jealous! Have to come visit you sometime my man! Cheers! 🥃
Hoping we didn’t lose you guys for another 6 months😅 patiently awaiting more content! Cheers boys.
Epic stuff. Never had a peated macallan before.
Try Rare Cask Black to get a sense but that is very modern of course. So different for Macallan. Cheers!
Wow. Every time you guys go old and exotic I just can't believe it. And then you go further, bravo. Thanks for sharing a singular experience!
Great stuff, u guys never disappoint! The dumpy is on my bucket list, thanks for ur generous sharing of amazing live reviews of legendary whiskies
amazing
That sure is an old bottling. Great looking Mac bottles on your bar. Good to hear about your old bottle experience. Great review.
Thank you Keith! Ya it was an eye opener for me right when you think you have experienced a lot in whisky you realize you are just scratching the surface. Crazy!
Hittin like!
Thanks my man and cheers!
Awesome vid--thanks for sharing. I saw Mark's video on that bottle. Really cool stuff. My oldest Macallan is a '39 GM OB bottle I opened for a "decades" tasting in June where we had spirits from eleven different decades (Ragnaud 1870s cognac, a Mauxion bons bois cognac of mine from 1900, 1903 Cedar Brook Plankinton bourbon and on up). The '39 Mac unanimously beat my '79 Gran Reserva we did as a side-by-side. Great stuff.
Awesome stuff! Yah we need to get together one day and do a blind “decades” tasting of Macallan 20s v 30s v 40s v 50s v 60s v 70s without any knowledge of peat. Would be fascinating! I searched high and low on the old interwebs and could not find any mention of PPM levels for various decades. Perhaps I could email Macallan and see if they even still know or respond. Haha! Maybe Bessie’s grandkids have records. Cheers brother!
@@maltreviewsThat would certainly be a fascinating tasting! To see the evolution, changes and similarities over time would be very cool, esp. doing it blind. I'd also be curious to see how far back Macallan's files go. With old bottlings still being released (like The Reach), maybe they do still have records. Cheers!
@@josephzeidner2965 Joseph, what’s your email my friend ?
The question of the day - who is buying all these super expensive Macallans? You can talk about rarity, but if you look at any action sites, there are pages and pages of these bottles. Also, seems like there are new "super rare limited edition" bottles coming out every month from Macallan.
IMO - its either clueless hedge funds or Macallan themselves(indirectly).
Billionaires/hedge funds and lost souls. Cheers!
Garage whisky clubs? sixteen guys splitting the cost?
What a Treat… Cheers
wonderful comparison with diff. era of Macallans❤ I wonder how much is that 1cl sample cost you😂
£100 pricey but did it for the history and the life knowledge journey like an investment for wisdom of whisky.
Bygone era. Sadly these are now out of reach for most of us, but you can still find mid century gems from other “lesser” distilleries at decent prices and get a very similar experience. Cheers Mike.
Excellent point! Probably the same bodegas for the casks and peat sources back then. Time to go hunting!
Cheers bud!
Epic, did you see Ledaig just released a warehouse bottling of cask strength 25yo? Put it on the list! Killer price too!
Just in time for Christmas wow!
Great review as always, absolutely luv the passion! My good friend is getting married down in OC this summer and would love it if you could give me some spots that you think are bucket list worthy level whisky joints in the area would be so much appreciated. Thanks as always for your great reviews, legend!
Peat : I wonder "heavily peated" here of Laga-21 (1985) & Samaroli LAPHG may be near 20-25 ppm ? Islay malts loses more and more peat (becomes "softer") in time, thus older Islay whiskies may have peat level near Bowmore/Highland Park of 20ppm-ish . . . maybe, THIS peated sherry Speysider-style is the new tomorrow wave ??
What is a liqueur scotch whisky? Is that like whisky with stuff added like drambuie?
From what I can find, being prior to today’s spirit regulations as you refer to, it has nothing to do with added ingredients like today and rather was for marketing purposes to appeal to a wider audience than just old school whisky drinkers to increase demand. But please if anyone from the industry out there or who knows better please educate us. Great question my man! Cheers! 🥃
I guess malt reviews is over. I hope you guys aren't suffering from the thing that started being advised in 2021, or the other thing