Macallan

Four Macallan 12 and Speymalt 20

Four Macallan 12 yo and a 20 yo Speymalt

Coldorak

Macallan has so far been something of a blind spot on More Drams Less Drama. We have only reviewed a pair of secret Macallans – both bottled by Le Gus’t – and they were, frankly, stunning. This time, however, there is no need for concealment: we are heading directly into one of Speyside’s most recognisable names, through four versions of the Macallan 12-Year-Old Sherry Oak Cask and a mature 2000 Speymalt from Gordon & MacPhail.

The four 12-year-olds should make for a particularly useful exercise in comparison. A whisky with such a fixed identity on paper can still evolve through changing cask sourcing, batch composition, bottling eras and the inevitable small adjustments of a long-lived official range. Adding Gordon & MacPhail’s 20-year-old Speymalt 2000 offers a different perspective altogether: a longer-aged, independently bottled Macallan, selected and presented beyond the official Sherry Oak framework. Together, they should tell us something about consistency, evolution, and the many ways Macallan’s sherried spirit can be interpreted.

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Speyside 1988 Le Gus't

Two Speyside 1988 Le Gus’t

Coldorak

Last year in December, we briefly mentioned Le Gus’t when we reviewed a Tomatin they bottled for La Confrérie du Whisky. Le Gus’t / Cave Conseil is a French off-licence and independent bottler located in the south-east of France, in Manosque first, but they also have a few shops around Marseille. They became an independent bottler in 2013 when their team went to Scotland to taste and select casks, and they started with a 1999, 12-year-old Bowmore very well received. We’re trying today two undisclosed Speyside 1988 from Le Gus’t, Selection XVIII and XXVI, as each of their bottling is numbered. Rumour has it that they both may be secret Mac***…

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