Skip to main content

The Macallan 50 Years Old Will Only Cost You $35,000

Every time you hear about a new, rare release from a beloved distillery, don’t you wish thatyou could just call up your accountant and tell him or her to transfer the money so you could buy it from your special whisky dealer? Yeah, us too, and that was the exact train of thought we had when The Macallan released details about their newest expression, The Macallan 50 Years Old.

Coming in at a cool $35,000, this is yet another step the brand has taken in distinguishing themselves from other premium whisky lines. (We’ve previously covered the 1991 release and Edition No. 3, so make sure to read up on them too.)

These exclusive releases, though, aren’t the only way that the brand has been making strides in the category. In the last year alone, The Macallan has been in the limelight for being the most expensive lot of whisky ever auctioned (six Lalique bottles aged between 50 and 65 years for $993,000 in April 2017) and the most expensive whisky cask ever sold (a full Sherry hogshead made in 1987 for $375,000 in October 2017).

Since those prices are easily out of hand for most of us, let’s focus on something a little more attainable: The Macallan 50 Years Old, which is cheap compared to the lots mentioned above.

The whisky was aged in a single European oak Sherry butt from Spain and the liquid is, as you might expect from a release with this much age behind it, complex. Amber in color, you’ll find wood and vanilla on the nose, which lead into lightly spiced blackcurrants mixed with a bit of earthiness. On the palate, sweet vanilla and oak start you off before taking you into fudge and toffee, then black pepper on the back end. A long, thick, and slightly dry finish (thanks to some slight peat flavors) close out the experience.

“Coveted by whisky connoisseurs and collectors around the world, The Macallan 50 Years Old is an incredible addition to our expanding range of unique, mature whiskies and marks another pinnacle of The Macallan whisky makers’ art,” master distiller Nick Savage said in a statement.

The catch with this — as with many older Scotch whisky releases — is the availability. Worldwide, only 200 bottles are available. Of those, a mere 17.5-percent (35 bottles) are making it to the U.S. shores. That means if you are one of the lucky ones who can do the whole accountant thing we talked about above, you better get on it.

The Macallan 50 Years Old is bottled at 44 percent ABV and is packaged in an oak box that features an etched face inlaid with a matte gold badged age statement.

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…
Irish Distillery Brings Red Spot Whiskey Back to Life 50 Years After Its Discontinuation
midleton distillery red spot whiskey returns irish feat

If you ever wanted to go back in time and check out the whiskey offerings of yore, you can now cross one off your list and you don’t even need a flux capacitor. Mitchell & Son, with some help from Irish Distillers, has brought back the  Red Spot Whiskey after its discontinuation about 50 years ago.

The Mitchell family entered the alcohol world in 1805 as Dublin wine merchants. In 1887, burdened by wine and sherry casks, they decided to get into the whiskey bonding business. Back in those days, Irish distilleries just, well, distilled and sold the spirits directly to retailers. Many distilleries ended up with bad reputations because these merchants could market these spirits however they pleased, often inflating the quality. Some pubs and merchants were also known to water down or otherwise alter the whiskey before serving it to customers.

Read more
Craigellachie is Giving Away 51-Year-Old Whisky for Free
craigellachie 51 whisky

For the next year, Speyside Scotch whisky producer Craigellachie is going to be doing something that no other distillery has done before: giving away 51-year-old whisky to a select number of individuals. For free.

Yes. Free.

Read more
Want to Loan Us $38,000 for The Balvenie’s New 50-Year-Old Scotch?
balvenie fifty

The Balvenie has released its latest 50-year-old Scotch whisky and it’s safe to say we’re drooling over here. Why wouldn't we? The Balvenie was part of one of our favorite pairing meals ever.

The Balvenie Fifty: Marriage 0962 — which will cost you a mere $38,000 per bottle — was sourced from four American Oak casks that were all aged at least 50 years. The liquids were then married (an act which takes a great amount of skill considering the age of the whisky) by Malt Master David C. Stewart MBE.

Read more