Macallan 29 Years Old 1985 24.128 Posh ladies on the prom! (51.1%, SMWS, Bourbon HH, 209 Bottles, 2015)

• Category: Speyside single malt scotch whisky
• Origin: The Macallan Distillery
• Bottling: Scotch Malt Whisky Society Cask # 24.128 Posh ladies on the prom!
• ABV: 51.1%
• Cost: £255.00
• Score: 84/100

What they say:

Cask No. 24.128 Posh ladies on the prom!

Our posh ladies perambulated down the warm wooden promenade with fresh marigolds and orange blossom in their straw hats. They sipped fino sherry and orange pop, a curious combination, and sucked on dusty sherbet lemons and cinnamon balls. They had a bagful of fruits: kiwi, strawberries, peaches and gooseberries. They picnicked on Victoria sponge, strawberry tart, peach cobbler and soft toffee. Water relaxed a slightly tannic bite of banana skin and revealed tutti frutti, pear drops and Love Hearts. Our perfumed ladies, draped in feather boas, finished with chocolate chip ice cream, orange lollipops and creme patisserie filled doughnuts. Splendid!

Drinking tip: Go carefully with water

Date Distilled: 25 April 1985 Colour: Quality Street toffee wrapper Age: 29 years Flavour : Light & delicate Cask Type: Refill ex-bourbon hogshead Whisky Region: Speyside Spey Outturn: 209 bottles

What I say:

Continuing our 2015 theme of sampling every distillery bottled by the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, a rare chance to sample Macallan (SMWS Distillery Code #24) came up during one of our visits. It appears that independent bottlings of Macallan are rather rare these days, making this find all the more sweeter. This expression has been aged for 29 years in a refill ex-bourbon hogshead making it even more unusual to sample Macallan devoid of any sherry-influence the distillery is so famous for.

Colour:

Full amber gold (10/20), medium droplet tears

Nose:

Rich vanilla essence, American cream soda and vanilla cream icing, sweet heathery and blossom honey, creamy and milky, lemon and orange sherbet, Edinburgh rock (chalky and sweet), pear tarte tatin, cereal barley malt

Taste:

Silky smooth in texture, vanilla cream/cream soda, syrupy orange/marmalade, Victoria sponge cake, sweet golden syrup, baked pear, peach and apple, all in pies, cobblers and crumbles with a hint of cinnamon spice, leading from biscuit to a more cereal malt barley.

Finish:

Actually rather short-medium, incredibly delicate fruity cream puff pastries and the like but gone just as quickly as I’d eat them!

Overall:

For me this was a perfect example of a whisky aged to the point of extinction. Undoubtedly beautiful spirit but likely a tired cask after 29 years, strangely little tannic or wood influence was discovered leaving the whole dram like a cream cake. Like cream cakes, you could always have more than one if you were feeling naughty!