Whiskeytemple_Vladimir  |
Macallan Amber, Sienna и Ruby |
От години сред производителите на уиски се налага тенденцията за въвеждане на пазара на т. нар. „NAS“-yискита, т.е. такива при които липсва означение на възрастта на дестилата. Тази практика се критикува от мнозина и разочарова част от любителите на марките, които практикуват тази политика. Изключение не правят и част от дестилатите на Macallan, които скоро бяха презентирани като новото попълнение в линията, които заменят серията “ Fine oak“, при която имаше изрично посочване на години. Серията „1824“ включва Macallan Gold, Macallan Amber, Macallan Sienna и Macallan Ruby. На феста ни бяха представени последните три. Обяснението, което Елиът даде за липсата на посочване на годините им бе, че така мастър-блендърите биха имали възножност всяка година да заменят дестилати с различна възраст в полза на нас, клиентите, без обаче да се създава неудобство и допълнителен разход при производството и обозначаването на уискито със съответните етикети. Гъвкавост го нарече тя.
На мирис бе медено, пикантно, с нотки канела, шоколад и карамел. Вкусът бе сладникав. Долових печени ябълки с мед, ванилия и пикантна жилка. Финал – отшумява със средна продължителност, носейки спомен за ябълки, ядки и медена малцова сладост.
В обобщение: първите ми впечатления гравитират около позитивна оценка, без обаче да открих „уау“-елементът, който да ме тресне и да ме накара да се влюбя в течността.
Носът е ванилов, плодов – стафиди и ябълки, ядки, дървесен, карамелен и пикантен. Вкус – сушени плодове, пиперливост, сладост, а с добавяне на вода става по-плодов и меден, със заемки на препечен сладкиш. Финалът е със средна трайност. Носи сладост на мед, ядки и пикантност.
П.С. Редакция от 02.2016г.: Руби бе заменен от Rare Cask, който струва два пъти повече – базовата му цена е около 440 лв. Представянето му е налично в блога.
Macallan „1824“
One of the classes that I visited on the bygone Whiskey fest was this of Macallan. It was held by Joy Elliott – brand ambassador, under whose leadership passed the best masterclass in my opinion, which I attended – that of Highland park whisky. I consider it as such not only because we were presented old distillates, but because these drinks pleasantly surprised me. But there will be an individual post about Highland park. Now back to the presentation of Macallan.
For years among the whiskey manufacturers is growing the tendency for market introduction of the so-called NAS-whiskies, i.e. such with no indication of the age of the distillate. This practice is criticized by many and disappoints a part of the fanciers of the brands that practice this policy. There are no exceptions and some of the distillates of Macallan, which were recently presented as a new addition to the line, replacing the series „Fine oak“, where there was an explicit indication of years. The 1824 series includes Macallan Gold, Macallan Amber, Macallan Sienna and Macallan Ruby. At the Fest we were presented the last three of them. The explanation Elliott gave about the lack of indication of their years was that in this way the Master Blenders would have the opportunity each year to replace the distillates with different age in our favor as clients without, however, creating inconvenience and additional cost in the production and labeling the whiskey with the respective labels. She called it flexibility.
I will fill the following lines with my notes from the fest, about each of the whiskies. The time wasn’t enough to form an overall notion and therefore i will not give assessments. I wish after a while to devote more time and probably will come back to them. However, my nose wants to dive into the sea of sherry scent, result from the overall aging of the whisky in sherry casks.
I begin with Macallan Amber single malt whisky 40%.
The color of the whisky is natural and it is not enriched with E150 coloring. Its odor was honeyed, spicy, with hints of cinnamon, chocolate and caramel. The taste was sweetish. I caught honey-baked apples, vanilla and spicy streak. The finish is of medium length, bearing memory of apples, nuts and honeyed malt sweetness. My first impressions gravitate around positive assessment, but I did not found the „wow“-element to struck me and to make me fall in love with the liquid.
Next is Macallan Sienna single malt whisky.
Again without added coloring and the alcohol content is 43%. The nose is vanilla, fruity – raisins and apples, nuts, woody, caramel and spicy. Taste – dried fruits, pepperness, sweetness, and with the addition of water becomes more fruity and honeyed with borrowings of toasted cake. The finish is of medium duration. Brings honey sweetness, nuts and spiciness.
Macallan Ruby single malt whisky 43 %.
Aroma – raisins, cognac, lots of caramel, Port wine notes, baked cake and chocolate, dried fruits and pepperness. The taste is spicy, raisins, brandy and cake with a butter dose. The aftertaste is of medium length, notable sweetness, fruity and the already mentioned Port notes. I know that the whisky was not aged in Port wine casks, but it left me that impression.
In summary – the distillates were presented in a pleasant way, but whether because of the short time I had available to taste them or for reasons hidden in themselves, I couldn’t find the spark in them. Perhaps any future meetings with them will help me in this endeavor.
