Here is the short answer before the long one: the bottle most like The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, for less money, comes from the same still house. The Macallan 12 Double Cask, at $137, gives a Sherry Oak 12 drinker about 98% of what their own bottle does. Same family, same warmth, a little less at the counter.
1/Some bottles court the room. The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 courts its own. It's the youngest of the Sherry Oak line, and it knows exactly who it's pouring for.
2/On the nose: Christmas cake in a glass. Sherry, dried fruits, hot butter, a little old leather. The palate is smooth and full, with Jaffa oranges, brittle toffee and light oak. A relatively long finish carries spice, malt and a last hint of smoke.
3/Here's the telling bit. Ask the drinkers of the bottles nearest it what this Macallan is worth to them, each starting from what they pay for their own, and the answers run from $46 to $134.
4/This week it is $160; it usually sells around $170. We've seen it as low as $158 and as high as $170. So at $160 it sits above every one of those answers.
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, poured after a long Tuesday: sherry, Christmas cake, old leather, a wisp of smoke. Want that without the full $160? The Macallan 12 Double Cask, $137, gives a Sherry Oak drinker 98% of it for 86% of the price. Fair swap? More in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfiddich 15 drinker The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 and they'd pay 68% of what their own bottle costs, a generous nod from a neighbour and reason enough to pour one yourself. The rest of the story waits in this week's piece on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12.
Christmas cake and Jaffa oranges, a little old leather, then a last hint of smoke: The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 is one to pour slowly of an evening. This week it is $160 at Dan Murphy's; it usually sells around $170. More on where that price sits in this week's piece.
The odd part: The Balvenie DoubleWood 12, at $105, hands a The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 drinker about 87% of what their own bottle gives, for 66% of its price. Honey, almonds, a touch of nutmeg. The rest of the story on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 is in this week's piece.
Like The Macallan Sherry Oak 12? Glenfiddich 15 gives you about 74% of what it does, for 87% of the price, at $140. Cooked plums and stewed rhubarb on the nose, then hedgerow fruit and a little grip on the palate. More on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 in this week's piece.
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 at $160, the youngest of the Sherry Oak line. A classic nose of sherry, Christmas cake, dried fruit and old leather. Smooth and full, with jaffa oranges and brittle toffee, then a long finish of spice and smoke. Aberlour 12 Double Cask at $113. Bourbon and sherry casks. Orange peel, banana, red apple and toasted nuts. Thin but intense, with chocolate and cooked apple. About $5.11 a pour at home, under a pint at the pub. This week the two come to $273 at Dan Murphy's, $283 at their usual prices, and $290 for the same two at Liquorland. A yes whichever way you lean.
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12, $105 at Dan Murphy's this week; it usually sells around $100. Floral and honeyed on the nose, then silky sherry, nutmeg and dried fruit, with a hint of orange drying out the long finish. Robust and elegant at once. More on it in this week's piece.
Friday night, the heavy glass comes off the bench. The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 is $105 at Dan Murphy's. Twelve years, floral and honey on the nose, silky with nutmeg and dried fruit. For a Macallan Sherry Oak 12 drinker it gives about 87% of that bottle, for 66% of the price.
Pour The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 on a slow evening and you get the Speyside house style in full. Floral first, then honey, oak and almonds on the nose. The palate is silky: spicy sherry, nutmeg, dried fruit. The finish runs quite long, a hint of orange under drying spices. Twelve years in ex-bourbon casks, nine months finished in Spanish oak oloroso sherry. Elegant, and robust with it.
Macallan is the name people expect to overpay for. This week, the two bottles I would actually buy are the ones that come in under their own taste-peers.
One Macallan this week is priced like a whisky. The rest are priced like Macallans.
Macallan is the name people reach for when they want to say sherried single malt and be understood. That status is the most expensive thing on this shelf, and the model can put a number on how expensive.
The cheapest Macallan on the shelf is the only one the model can call close to fair. Everything above it climbs a ladder that gets steeper and blurrier with every rung.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Macallan Classic Cut Whisky | Speyside | $244.99 | observed | $244.99 | $177.72 | 27.5% | #77 of 79 | — | — | 0 |
| Macallan The HarmonyCol Rich Cacao | Highlands | $800.00 | observed | $800.00 | $520.14 | 35.0% | #38 of 38 | $32.92 | #35 of 36 | 0 |
| The Macallan 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $136.99 | observed | $136.99 | $123.29 | 10.0% | #49 of 79 | $6.20 | #48 of 75 | 9 |
| The Macallan Double Cask 15 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $377.99 | observed | $377.99 | $329.51 | 12.8% | #57 of 79 | $15.92 | #68 of 75 | 0 |
| The Macallan Double Cask 18 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $635.99 | observed | $635.99 | $538.81 | 15.3% | #66 of 79 | $26.78 | #71 of 75 | 0 |
| The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $159.99 | observed | $169.99 | $147.26 | 13.4% | #60 of 79 | $7.24 | #55 of 75 | 10 |