Skip to main content

The Macallan’s Million-Dollar New Distillery is Architecturally Delicious (Like Scotch)

Ian Gavan

Scottish whisky royalty, The Macallan (you know, the ones who put out this gem of a whisky), recently unveiled the brand’s new Easter Elchies estate distillery — a £140 million (USD $187,362,420) cathedral of single malt magnificence.

The new, modern home of The Macallan acts as the centerpiece of parent company Edrington’s £500 million (USD $669,151,500) investment in increasing both the reach and the refinement of their whiskies.

Officially opening June 2, 2018, the distillery is headlined by a massive, undulating timber roof structure that disappears into the land, mimicking the pastoral Scottish hillside (much like these modern invisible houses). A whopping 380,000 individual components go into the roof’s design, “maximizing the aesthetic beauty of the building whilst minimizing the visual impact on the Speyside landscape, which has been classified as an ‘Area of Great Landscape Value,’” The Macallan says in a release.

The overall appeal is a harmonious blend of contemporary and bucolic, lending to a structure you might imagine housing a great art museum or national opera.

The property for the new distillery has been home to The Macallan since 1824 (for U.S. reference, the year the first settlers arrived in Florida to found Tallahassee). The new structure took three years and six months to complete. Considering the magnitude of the project — helmed by acclaimed architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, along with 25 contractors — we’d reckon three years is not long at all for this casa. Then you take into account 400 people specializing in more than 20 different trades were employed on site.

Ian Gavan

It’s safe to say they must really love Scotch whisky.

The Macallan’s goal was to build a house that would match the quality of the sweet (generally) amber liquid it produces. And with the architecture’s unrivaled scale and complexity, I’d say the brand was successful.

Entering the state-of-the-art Macallan distillery can only be compared to entering a grand church in Paris. Like stepping foot into a sanctuary, the distillery has soaring ceilings and a matrix of golden copper stills. Visitors will be ushered through “The Macallan’s Six Pillars,” an interactive and tech-driven experience that touches on essential Macallan heritage from their sherry casks seasoned in Spain to the uniquely small stills.

The Macallan Distillery Easter Elchies 7

Ian Gavan

Speaking of stills, the new ones were crafted by Scottish coppersmiths Forsyths, who have been making the brand’s distinctive small stills since the 1950s. Don’t worry — the new stills are an exact replica of the originals. While the new distillery will allow for production to increase, the company isn’t interested in straying from the traditions that made Macallan, well, a top-notch Scotch we crave every day of the week.

“We’ve taken exceptional care in making sure that the spirit that is produced in the new distillery is identical to the spirit that we produced in our previous distillery. This is the beginning of a really exciting new chapter in the evolution of this wonderful brand that is The Macallan,” says Macallan creative director Ken Grier.

The new distillery’s Edrington location also promises to bring new tourism to the quiet region, especially as the rise of spirits-based travel, (i.e. The Colorado Spirit’s TrailKentucky Bourbon Trail, etc.) becomes a popular motivation for international exploration.

The old distillery was also in Speyside, Scotland, and it will remain there, but plans for what’s next for the space are still being determined.

Editors' Recommendations

Jahla Seppanen
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Born and raised off-the-grid in New Mexico, Jahla Seppanen is currently a sports, fitness, spirits, and culture writer in…
Forget wine — Beer and cheese is an unbeatable combination
Put the corkscrew away and crack open a cold one
Beer and cheese

When one hears the term cheese pairings, wine is the beverage that most often comes to mind, we'd wager. Because, of course, it is. The pairing of wine and cheese is as classic a coupling as peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, or chocolate and strawberries. They're meant to be together. But that certainly doesn't mean that wine is the only adult beverage that can dance an alluring tango alongside everyone's favorite dairy product. Beer, as humble as its reputation can be, is also a beautiful balance to cheese's immense offering of flavors. While some may think of beer as not being as multi-dimensional and varied in its palate-pleasing capabilities as wine, this is not the case - especially now that we live in a world with so many exquisite craft beers, stouts, and lagers.
Of course, another classic accompaniment to cheese is bread or crackers. Why might that be, one might ask. Is it because we're simply in need of a starchy vessel to usher the cheese into our mouths? The answer is actually a bit deeper than that. Starches like bread and crackers are made from the same yeasty ingredients as beer, so their pairing makes perfect culinary sense.
This isn't to say, though, that one can simply pick up a hunk of cheddar and crack open a Budweiser and expect culinary artistry. The science is a bit more nuanced than that, so we're here to help you find the best pairings for your favorite beers and cheeses.

How to pair beer and cheese

Read more
Mijenta has a new cristalino tequila — here’s why bourbon fans will love it
Mijenta has a cristalino tequila perfect for bourbon drinkers
Mijenta Cristalino

If you’re new to tequila, you might not know all the terms. Even if you’re just a beginner, you probably know all about blanco, reposado, añejo, and maybe even joven. But chances are, you’re not familiar with Cristalino tequila. This reasonably contemporary style is simply añejo tequila that’s been charcoal filtered to remove its natural caramel color and various impurities.

The style is more than just a little popular. It’s actually the fastest growing style of tequila according to Nielsen data. The newest brand to get in on the Cristalino trend is Mijenta.

Read more
You may not dislike IPAs as much as you think — you’ve just tried the wrong type
There's much more to the IPA than bitter hop bombs
Beer

The IPA has been described as the cilantro of the beer world. It’s assumed by some novice drinkers that you either love it or hate it. On one hand, it’s one of the most popular beer styles in the American craft world. It’s loved by many drinkers for its liberal use of hops and fresh, crushable flavor profile.

But haters of the style dislike it because they have an assumption that all IPA beers are aggressively hopped and uncomfortably bitter. While there are IPAs that fit that criterion (and fans of that style can’t get enough of them), there are also a handful of other types of IPAs to fit any palate.
The IPA stigma

Read more