It's been awhile since I was really blown away by a Macallan, I believe it was back in 2007 or thereabouts, and it was a fully sherry-matured 12yo OB. A standard version that is unfortunately to my knowledge now of the market. Giovinetti & Figli is an italian importer of Macallan, and I'll be trying two expressions bottled for the today as well as two expressions of G&M's Speymalt Range. All 4 youngsters, but of very different bottling dates.
Macallan 10yo 40% OB for Giovinetti & Figli
Bottled back in the 70's or 80's, not sure, some evaporation but not much. It's gonna be nice to try such an old Macallan, as most/many bottles of this age are priced to ridicule whoever buys them, that's my opinion at least. nice red hue, could be E150 but I'm not sure, could also be from sherry casks(I hope so). Smells sherried, Oloroso, creamy, cinnamon, lavender, white peach, honey, rustic, amazing stuff. This is amazing, and given time it develops more and more, I'm grateful there are still some bottles of this around. The taste is sulphury, peppery, sweetness, caramel and cinnamon, cognac-style more so than sherry. Maybe water will do it good, although it's far from a bad or even mediocre whisky neat. Water brings out all the delicate sherry flavors along with even more sweet stuff including some red bell peppers, garlic, honey, kiwi, mangos, green grapes and light syrup.
With water this becomes more for the sweet-toothed, but I like it still: 8
Macallan 7yo 40% OB for Giovinetti & Figli
Second one from G&F, now three years younger and a bit less evaporated than the last one, close to fill level that means. Oh, and this has the only label of which I can remember that carries the picture of a distillery worker pushing a cask. Looks somewhat artsy compared to the standard white and golden labels of that time. I believe this is from the same period as the 10yo. about the same color, deep orange to red hue. Sherry notes again? This one also needs some time to develop on the nose. It opens up wonderfully and the sherry is there again along with some surprisingly raw spirity notes. Was it bottled prematurely? Sweet honey nectar alongside mango as well. Now lets taste. It tastes sweet, sweet vinegar, red bell peppers, sweet malt beer, small hints of smokiness in the end, not as intriguing as the 10yo, maybe water will help it along. Water adds impression of chewing wool, not good, I recommend this one neat.
Good whisky to start with, can't handle water, a bit too young perhaps: 6
Macallan 9yo 1998-2007 43% G&M Speymalt
Done with the Italian stuff, and pleasantly surprised by at least one of them. But they were bottled a while back so maybe it's time to start discussing bottle maturation again. The two from G&M are of much more recent bottling dates, maybe they'll surprise me as well. By the looks of it, neither of them have enjoyed time in oloroso sherry casks. Starting of with this one, the youngest of them. I must admit having read little or nothing about this Speymalt range, but I have seen there's a many Bunnahabhains and Macallans in it, is there a link between those distilleries and G&M? Pale yellow color. The taste is a bit punchier than the G&V's. Very nice actually, banana and sugar grease comes to mind, you know the latvian snacks? No? Well, burn of spirit alongside sugar and butter in a pan, there is the smell, much better than the taste! This seems to be thick, I'd expect something more in the lines of a thin diluted whisky when nosing this, but it has got some serious balls so far. The taste is incredibly thick, sweet, lemon meringue, banana pie, vanilla ice cream and oily. I don't want to experiment with water on this one, it is good enough neat, I could easily drink a pint of this one, but I won't.
Sweet, juicy, creamy, perfect balance: 7.5
Macallan 10yo 1996-2006 40% G&M Speymalt
the third one bottled at 40% in this tasting, could this make a big difference? I guess I'm about to find out now. What I do know is that the last one, the 1998 with 43%abv. was a lot thicker, or fuller if you like, than the two from Italy. Or maybe the cask or the distillate of today is different? It smells more spirity than the 1998 version, and agin, not nearly as thick and bold. The taste is mostly spirity, again I get this sense of chewing wool, it needs water, at least I hope so, if not, this is pretty below par. With water it gets lighter, a bit easier, but far from good. this extreme wool flavor, when ironing a woolen shirt a bit too much, or chewing your close in kindergarden, really strange, I'd pass on this if offered.
Horrible stuff, like a cheap Vodka actually: 2
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