We move forward with our ever penetrating gaze upon The Macallan Edition No. 3 single malt expression. I would be tempted to complain that all the Edrington Group seems to do these days, as many other Scotch producers are want to do in our Golden Age of whisky consumption, is simply rehash non-innovative production methods and make a new, pretty label and charge a pretty penny for our potential purchase, but as confessed in our previous review, I believe there is something of substance to these editions. I honestly don’t care much in the negative that today’s bottle is NAS. Supply is low and demand is high. You can’t respond to a market rush now with a solution that takes 12 years to materialize. It is what it is, as they say. Just go with the flow and get past it. But the particular details of today’s composition are quite intriguing enough to merit a look. On to some particulars.

Edition No. 3 happens to be a collaboration between Master Whisky Maker, Bob Dalgarno with a Master Perfumer, Roja Dove. The goal was to highlight a variety of aromas that oak maturation affords from the customary styles of American and European oak. The detail revealed is a whisky geek’s dream, and for simplicity’s sake, I will list the oak components in bullet point format:

• 1st fill Hudosa butts, American oak
• 2nd fill refill butts European and American oak
• 1st fill Tevasa butts/puncheons, European oak
• 1st fill bourbon hogsheads, American oak
• 1st fill Tevasa hogsheads, European oak
• 1st fill Bourbon barrels, American oak

Surely a Master Perfumer should find some serendipitous aromas with that makeup. The resulting malt is bottled at 48.3% ABV with 250,000 bottles available for sale. On to it…

SWC Review

Nose- Raisins. Dessert wine. Chocolate and caramel. Floral perfumed notes, naturally. Vanilla whiffs abound with time. Orange citrus notes with cream. Nice oak.

Taste– Dark chocolate. Cinnamon spice. Rich cream. Oily. Malbec. Toasted toffee.

Finish- Toasted almonds. Coffee with cream. Chocolate and oranges. Nutty. Light tannins. Long.

Comment- Impressive dram. Worth the price if you can find it. Well liked by the crew. The ideal sherried whisky.

SWC Rating- 90/100

Agree? Disagree?