For those just now discovering the world of the Scottish whiskies it might seem normal to buy a single malt, namely a barley malt whisky, distilled in a single distillery with traditional stills, choosing between dozens of expressions and bottlings. It is a “fortune” of modern times, decreed by the great popularity that Scottish whiskies have gained over the last twenty years. Throughout all the 20th century, single malts were mainly used to enrich the blends for blended whiskies and were the basis for the rise to fame of brands such as Johnnie Walker and Chivas.

Precisely since single malts have always been a small market niche, and even now in their period of greatest popularity they amount to less than 10% of the market, it’s quite rare to find dated bottles, particularly that specify their distillation date, or vintage, to use a wine-making term. The most obvious and known exception is definitely Macallan, whose name probably derives from the Gaelic words ‘Magh’, fertile soil, and ‘Ellan’, after the Irish monk St. Fillan who spread Christianity in Scotland in the 8th century.

The small Macallan stills, so famous as to be shown on the back of the £10 banknotes of the Bank of Scotland, have grown over the years. Today’s Macallan cleverly leverages the reputation built over the years and is a powerful business machine which markets many limited editions that are already “collectors’ items” at their release, but the brand has certainly lost some of its old character and charm which was largely provided by the sherry casks used for maturation and by that light smoky taste it left in the glass. The construction of an impressive and very modern 16 million liters distillery, at a cost of about 100 million pounds, is certainly the sign of a further dividing line in Macallan’s history. A story that officially began in 1824 with Alexander Reid, who bought the land around the area that is still the hallmark of the distillery, the Easter Elchies House, dating back to the 18th century. Besides being a teacher, Reid was also a barley farmer. He set up his distillery abiding by the agricultural tradition of those times, in which the left-over barley was distilled during the winter.

Italy had a leading role in the history of single malts and in the creation of Macallan’s legend. We can safely say that Italy has been the Noah’s Ark of the whisky, capable of handing down many old bottles thanks to the foresight, attention to the quality and exclusiveness of its importers and collectors who often were themselves importers, retailers or restaurateurs, enthusiasts of excellence to share with their customers. Even nowadays, as whisky consumption has greatly decreased, Italy is among the first single malt consumers in the world. The role of Italians is well described in a fascinating way in the book “Single Malt, an Italian Passion” by Umberto Angeloni and we should not be surprised if, in some whisky bars around the world, most old bottles come from Italy. Which are Macallan’s most famous bottles? This would be a long list, but we can state a couple of examples: the first is the “Red Ribbon”, characterized by a red ribbon and manuscript style labels, some of which were distilled in the late 30s, and those with year 1957, bottled in 1982, celebrating 25 years of the brand’s import in Italy by Rinaldi of Bologna; the second relates to the custom of commemorating Royal Marriages, including that of Charles and Diana, celebrated in 1981, by blending whiskies distilled in the birth years of the spouses.
It is no coincidence that the late Michael Jackson, the most influential English writer about whisky and a great admirer of the distillery, defined Macallan “the Rolls-Royce of Single Malts”.

BY Davide Terziotti