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The Macallan distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Craigellachie, Moray. The Macallan Distillers Ltd, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Edrington Group which purchased the brand from Highland Distillers in 1999.

== History ==
Macallan was founded in 1824 by Alexander Reid and the distillery was operated from the original buildings of Macallan farm. It was named Elchies distillery after a nearby estate and this name was used until 1980 when the decision was taken to change it to Macallan. The distillery changed ownership a number of times during its early days and some much needed stability came when Roderick Kemp took control in 1892. He had previously been the co –owner of Talisker on the isle of Skye and Macallan remained in the control of his family until 1994, when it was sold to a consortium of Japanese company Suntory and the Highland Distillers Group. In 1999, the distillery became part of the Edrington Group, who are the current owners. The path of Macallan's history changed forever in 1980. The name was changed and the decision taken to concentrate on producing premium quality single malt whisky rather than whisky for blending. Many in the whisky trade thought this was a risky mistake but the decision has proved to be a great success. Macallan is currently the third best selling single malt in the UK and the fifth best selling in the world. A conscious decision was also made to target the travel retail/duty free market by releasing exclusive bottlings and editions of their whisky for that sector. This has again paid off as Macallan lies in second place for worldwide duty free sales, behind only Glenfiddich.

== Production ==
The distillery has 21 stills and while this is a large amount, each one is small, fat and stands at less than 4 metres tall. This produces the richer, creamier spirit that Macallan has become reknowned for. There are a number of other things that make Macallan different from most other distilleries. They are one of the last remaining distilleries to use a strain of barley called 'Golden Promise' that is regarded as being the perfect barley for distilling whisky.

Macallan also use two types of yeast during fermentation, compared to just one type at most other distilleries. This is done in order to maximise the amount of sugar that gets turned into alcohol and can give a slight extra creaminess to the final spirit. The final difference is in the maturation. The whisky goes into European oak casks that have previously been made to exact specifications and filled with sherry by the Gonzalez Byass Bodega in Jerez, Spain. This practice is rare as sherry casks are 10 times as expensive as a bourbon cask, which is what the majority of the industry use for maturation. In 2004, a series of whiskies called 'fine oak' were released with the idea of attracting new customers to Macallan. This series of whisky is matured for some time in the sherry casks but is then transferred in to bourbon casks.

The distillery produces a number of expressions in its core Sherry Oak series, the most generally available being the 12-year-old, although the 18-year-old is widely distributed, alongside a 10-year-old cask strength expression at 58% ABV. Expensive 25- and 30-year-old versions can also be found.
More recently, starting in 2004, The Macallan for the first time started to offer single malt expressions vatted with whisky matured in used casks other than ex-sherry casks as part of the Fine Oak range. Macallan also markets special scotches in duty-free shops at airports such as the 1824 Collection.
Many rare, special releases and other small production run bottlings also exist.

== The taste ==
The Macallan has an extraodinary range of flavour, aromas and malts taste coming from each cask. It is an extremely subtile whisky, exeptional with particuliar aromas that make it unique and distinguishable from others (some hints of dry grapes). Perfect balance between fruit and peat, it has a powerful taste that stays long in mouth. The Macallan develops the "flavour" of the best malts.


== Sources ==
* http://www.whiskyforeveryone.com
* http://en.wikipedia.org

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