So, there's this distillery in Speyside called Macallan, right? It got its official stamp as Elchies Distillery back in 1824, just after this law in 1823 made it easier for hidden distilleries to go legit. Fast forward to 1868, and this guy James Stuart snags it up and gives it a total makeover. But then, in 1892, Roderick Kemp, a big-shot in the whisky world, took over. He renamed it Macallan-Glenlivet.
Kemp’s fame, especially the Shiachs, kept the reins until 1996, when it got scooped up by Highland Distillers, who we now know as Edrington.
Macallan’s got this thing with blended whisky. Their pot stills are kinda tiny and give out this heavy spirit, making it stand out from the Speyside crowd. Aging in ex-sherry casks? That just took things to a whole new level.
But the '80s were wild, and the demand for blended stuff took a hit. That's when Macallan thought, "Why not show off our single malt to the world?"
In 1982, they proudly dropped their 18-year-old, bigging up their solid bond with ex-sherry. But like many romances, things change. By 2004, Macallan switched things up with their Fine Oak series, blending in some ex-Bourbon casks. Some fans were like, "Whaaat?", but this smoother whisky became a hit, especially in the fresh markets.
The “new and improved” Macallan was such a hit that by 2008 they fired up their second distilling house, giving Glenlivet a run for its money. And they didn’t stop there. In 2014, they dropped the news about building a brand-new distillery with a whopping £100 million price tag, aiming to move everything there by 2017.
With all its ritzy releases, Macallan became the most collected whisky on the block. But there's a downside: it's also the most faked. Rumor has it that some of those “19th-century” bottles aren't the real deal. Lab tests even found some isotopes that shouldn't be there, hinting that some of these "oldies" might actually be from around the 1950s. Mind blown, right?
To wrap it up, Macallan isn't just any whisky; it's a whirlwind of distilling history, a taste evolution, and a beacon of authenticity in the wild world of whisky. Cheers!
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