November 2022 saw the latest addition to Macallan’s Red collection, bottled at a *ahem* notable 77 years old.
Launched in 2020 and named for the recurring red theme that traces back to the distillery’s inception, the Red Collection is the home for expressions aged in excess of the core range. Made up of three ongoing expressions at 40, 50 and 60 years old, the range has also hosted a number of ‘guest’ releases initially a 71, 74 and 78. The new 77 becomes the 4th guest release bringing the collection to a total of seven.
Note worthy of course, is that this release is the second oldest to date, tucking in neatly behind the 78, begging the question, why not wait a couple of years and beat the record? The obvious answer would probably be something along the lines of “our whisky makers identified that these casks were at their peak” which may very well be true. Were I to hazard a guess however, looking back at the release patterns - three core plus three guests in 2020 - I might imagine Macallan are keeping their powder dry on a couple more releases in the not to distant future, with one likely claiming the ‘oldest to date’ title.
No official bottle count has been released, though I doubt even Macallan have vast stocks of 77 year old malt kicking about, so don’t expect it to be in the thousands of bottles. Should you wish to pick one up, sales will initially be directly though Macallan: at their Estate and Travel Retail Boutiques, from December 2022. Have your chequebook at the ready though as the expected retail price is a decidedly non-trivial £65,000 and if previous releases are anything to go by, picking it up on the secondary market is likely to be even more spendy.
True to form the Marketing team at Macallan has made a lovely video to go along with the release, animated by Spanish artist Javi Aznarez, that we can all enjoy whether we've £65k to drop on a bottle or not.