Skip to main content

The Macallan Launches $10,000 Scotch Whisky

$10,000 Scotch whisky
Image used with permission by copyright holder
There are expensive Scotch whiskies, and there are expensive Scotch whiskies.

The 1991 Fine & Rare vintage—the Macallan’s newest release in their Fine & Rare collection—definitely falls into the latter category. At a cool $10,000, it can easily make you think about selling your first-born in order to get your hands on a bottle of the stuff.

The Macallan’s Fine & Rare collection was created in order to showcase, as you might expect, the finest stock that the Speyside distillery has to offer. The 1991 vintage is no exception to this. New make spirit was put into cask number 7021—an American oak Vasyma puncheon sherry seasoned in Jerez, Spain—and was filled on March 28th, 1991. It was bottled at its natural cask strength of 49.4% ABV, which, according to Macallan’s Master Whisky Maker Bob Dalgamo, is the ideal strength to enable full appreciation for and actualization of the intense yet soft flavors of the 1991 vintage.

Speaking of the palate, if you’re able to get your hands on this $10,000 Scotch whisky, you’re going to find a single malt Scotch that’s cinnamon in color and has apple, dried fruit and vanilla on the nose, in addition to ginger, spice, and almonds. The palate itself is soft, yet also incredibly intense, with sweet and spice working together to balance out notes of raisin and fig. On the finish, you’re going to get velvety sweetness, soft oak, fruit, and the overwhelming sense of winning at life for getting to drink such an expensive and exquisite Scotch whiskey.

If you’ve got the dough, and you’re serious about trying to get your hands on one of the  1991 vintage, you can email Inquiries.us@themacallan.com. Note that if you do, there is a one dram sharing fee with us here at The Manual.

Editors' Recommendations

Sam Slaughter
Sam Slaughter was the Food and Drink Editor for The Manual. Born and raised in New Jersey, he’s called the South home for…
William Grant and Sons Launches New Single Malt Whisky Brand
Aerstone Sea Cask Land Cask

William Grant and Sons is a family-owned business best known for its two well-regarded and popular Speyside whiskey distilleries, The Balvenie and Glenfiddich. Glenfiddich is one of the best-selling single malt brands in the world, although the company prefers to label it "most awarded." The Balvenie is its smaller sister distillery located right next door that produces a lineup of whiskies that are finished in a variety of cask types. But WGS has a few smaller brands in its portfolio as well, like Ailsa Bay which is distilled at the company's sprawling Girvan distillery about 55 miles south of Glasgow. Hendrick's Gin is also distilled here, along with a large amount of grain whisky used in various WGS blends. And now a new brand called Aerstone, consisting of two 10-year-old single malt expressions -- Land Cask and Sea Cask -- has been introduced.

These are two easy-sipping whiskies meant more for those who are new to the whisky category than for seasoned drinkers. This is not to say that they are bad whiskies, but they are subtle and soft with flavors and alcohol (40%) that are not meant to challenge your palate. Sea Cask is described as "smooth and easy" on the packaging, and this Speyside-style whisky is indeed light, slightly sweet, and a little spicy, a satisfying if unremarkable introduction to the single malt category. Sea Cask would work well in a highball or other scotch whisky cocktail. Land Cask, on the other hand, is described as "rich and smoky," and it has a noticeable and assertive peatiness, although nothing like what you might expect from an Islay whisky like Ardbeg or Laphroaig.

Read more
Nomad Outland Whisky Review: Scotch That Isn’t Scotch
nomad outland whisky 1

If you like the popularity of sherry-finished Scotch whiskies and the trend for forward-thinking blends from Scotland (think Monkey Shoulder and Sheep Dip), let us introduce you to Nomad Outland Whisky.

Most Scotch whiskies are aged in barrels that previously held bourbon for several years, imparting hints of vanilla, caramel, and a light nutty sweetness. But a few are either finished or wholly aged in ex-sherry casks, bringing the herbaceous spice notes of European oak and the dried fruit sweetness of Spanish sherry (along with, sometimes, a ruby tinge to whisky’s traditional amber color). Depending on whether the original sherry was Oloroso, Pedro Ximénez, Fino, or Manzanilla brings additional character to the finished whisky.

Read more
The Best Blended Scotch Whiskies to Add to Your Collection
Blended Scotch

Single malt scotch gets all the love, but the reality is that blends are what the people really want. The best-selling Scotch whiskies fall into the latter category, with familiar names like Johnnie Walker, Grant's, and Chivas leading the pack. Blends are often cheaper than single malts, although that is not the case when you get into the higher-end expressions. The difference is that while a single malt is a 100 percent malted barley whisky that comes from one distillery, a blended scotch is a marriage of whisky from different distilleries that also includes grain whisky, usually made from corn or wheat. A blended malt, however, is a blend of malt whisky from different distilleries minus the grain whisky. There are many good examples of blended scotch to choose from, and some new expressions are now available from well-known brands. Here are eight blends that you should try now.
Dewar’s

Dewar's touts its whisky as being "double aged," meaning that after initial maturation and blending the blend is put into an oak cask for another six months to marry the whiskies together before bottling (other brands use a similar process). The blend consists of grain whisky and single malts drawing from the Dewar's portfolio (Aberfeldy, Aultmore, Craigellachie, Royal Brackla, and Deveron), among others. Dewar's White Label is a very popular whisky here in the U.S., but try the age statement blends (12, 15, 18) for something a bit more complex and rich.
Johnnie Walker

Read more