The Macallan has added a new Scotch whisky to its popular Distil Your World series with its latest expression dedicated to Paris.
The City of Light joins London, New York, Mexico, and Hong Kong in the collection and offers specific traits that may be unique to this Macallan.
The Macallan Distil Your World whiskies are designed to be a love letter to their cities, with the flavor profiles specifically built to capture their sights, smells, and idiosyncrasies. Paris is all about elegance and sophistication, two things that The Macallan is very familiar with, but for this, the whisky makers have focused on something far more delicious: patisseries.
Fortunately for master whisky maker Kirsteen Campbell, buttery pastries, dried fruits, and gentle spices are standard flavor profiles for Scotch whisky. But even then, she had to dig deep into The Macallan’s vast stocks to find something that, for The Macallan, is exceptionally rare: whisky aged in a cognac cask.
Ageing Scotch in cognac casks is nothing new, but it is for The Macallan. In fact, it’s thought to be the first release in its 201-year history. And with Paris’s obvious links to cognac, this feels like a natural place to start.
Those cognac casks have added a dried fruit quality to the liquid. The buttery softness comes from American sherry-seasoned oak casks, while European oak would have assured loyal drinkers it still had that typical Macallan quality.
Campbell said: “The Macallan has always been rooted in storytelling, and every creation we craft carries its own. This Distil Your World edition feels especially meaningful to me because of the experiences, sights, and emotions I brought back from Paris.
“In building its flavors, I layered new ideas over the signature character of The Macallan to create something familiar, yet a little unexpected. I took a piece of Paris home with me – and this release is my personal interpretation of that journey.”
Bottled at a very drinkable 47.2% ABV, this expression is both natural color and non-chill filtered. Together with specially commissioned artwork from Paris-based artist Cassandre Montoriol and its cognac influence, this will draw interest from collectors as well as drinkers.
Its non-age statement falls in line with the rest of the Distil Your World series, but goes against recent releases from The Macallan, such as the James Bond Diamonds Are Forever release, which provides both an age statement and a vintage year.
Distil Your World Paris is available from The Macallan and through select retailers for an SRP of $4,750
