The Macallan has broken its own record for bottling the oldest single malt Scotch whisky with the release of an 84-year-old, beating the previous mark by three years. The new Time : Space whisky, revealed by The Macallan on Tuesday, overtakes The Macallan Reach (at a mere 81 years old) as the oldest Scotch whisky ever bottled.
Several Scottish distilleries are celebrating their 200th in 2024, as many established themselves shortly after the Excise Act was passed in 1823 – legalizing distilling in Scotland for the first time. Only one of those distilleries, however, can celebrate by releasing a whisky aged for close to half of its two-century existence.
The Macallan has a habit of releasing extremely old whiskies, including two of the three to breach the eight-decade mark. Only Gordon & MacPhail, an independent bottler, has managed the feat with no other standalone distillery coming close. Still, the record for the oldest bottled Scotch has now been broken three times in as many years, pointing to increasing demand from ultra-high-net-worth collectors.
And you will need to consider yourself a UHNW to get one of these. The Macallan is placing a stupendous SRP of $190,000 on the Time : Space bottle, of which there will be only 200 bottles. Even then, you may find yourself fortunate to get one at that price, at least if The Reach is anything to go by. Originally released in 2022 for an SRP of $110,000, bottles of The Reach have sold for almost four times that at auction.
For your money, you’ll get a whisky that came off the stills at the old Macallan distillery way back in 1940. This was at a time when the German Luftwaffe was preparing to blitz London and its major cities as part of World War II. The Macallan, all the way in rural Speyside, was not immune: the distillery had to shut down for the first time later that year due to the war effort.
In the decades since and the entire lifetimes that have passed, two casks sat peacefully in The Macallan warehouses, surviving cruel winters and harsh summers, before finally being married together earlier this year. The two casks were a first-fill American oak butt and a second-fill European oak butt – both seasoned with sherry in Jerez just as The Macallan does today. Bottled at 43.6% ABV, you can expect a dark and rich flavor full of oak spices and dried fruits.
Related
Kirsteen Campbell, master whisky maker, at The Macallan, said: “It was an absolute privilege to be able to reach back in time and select stock from the 1940s to honour and celebrate our 200-year anniversary. To nose, taste and select whisky created over eight decades ago is an exceptionally rare occasion in the life of a whisky maker and one which I will treasure.”
The new whisky, coined the Time : Space Collection, is poetically paired with a 5 Year Old, which goes down as the first release from the new Macallan distillery, which opened in 2018. Housed together in an innovative circle, the 84 Year Old sits in the outer ring with the young whisky inside.
Campbell said: “For the 2018 vintage, the prospect of selecting a younger cask created a lot of excitement in the sample room – it is an opportunity to give others an insight into The Macallan’s future. This marked the first year of production in our new Distillery, which is truly a significant moment to be cherished. Through a fusion of art and science we have ensured the continuity of the character of our whisky.”
Content from our partners
Time : Space Mastery
Only a select few will sample the Time : Space 84 Year Old, so The Macallan has simultaneously released Time : Space Mastery for the wider public. This non-aged statement whisky has been designed and crafted on the same principles as the 84 Year Old, but is much more accessible at an SRP of $1,400.
The Macallan’s whisky team chose 14 different cask types to create an expression with different layers of flavor. This includes European oak sherry seasoned casks, American oak sherry seasoned casks and – that rarest of all things for a Macallan whisky – American oak bourbon casks.
Euan Kennedy, lead whisky maker at The Macallan, said: “Inspired by past masters, we have explored the full extent of our warehouses to capture the complex influences of cask seasoning, oak origin, cask size and distillery character in one incredibly special bottle of whisky – with the elegance provided by European Oak sitting at its heart.”
The Macallan’s Time : Space will be available to purchase through invitation only from The Macallan
The Macallan’s Time : Space Mastery will be available to purchase from The Macallan, subject to availability and location, as well as via The Macallan Society Ballot
