The Macallan + Highland Park: NEW RELEASES from the Cask Masters!

THE MACALLAN A NIGHT ON EARTH 'AT FIRST LIGHT'
&
HIGHLAND PARK CASK STRENGTH: HEATHER 

SCOTLAND

 

WHY BUY:
* The Macallan, as ever, speaks for itself, but this latest installment of their beloved Night on Earth Series finds the master working in a different register: there's a wonderful confectionary quality to this sherry-casked dram, with its notes of marshmallow, pavlova, and vanilla ice cream, and the bottle design by New Zealand artist Bonnie Brown (which pays tribute to New Zealand's unique landscape and its position as one of the first places in the world to greet the New Year's day sunrise) only adds to the sense of playfulness.

* The Highland Park Cask Strength: Heather occupies the other end of the tasting spectrum: it's a wallop of a single malt at 127 proof, but — surprise, surprise — it doesn't go down harsh in the least, thanks to its masterful sherry-casking, and those peated heather notes (that could only come from Orkney) are sublime.

THE DISTILLERS: 
At a glance, what unites the two brands is their ownership, the venerable Edrington Group, which manages them both; but the commonality that matters most to us is that both control crucial aspects of production that other distilleries outsource: The Macallan owns the entire chain from acorn to glass, running their own cooperages and seasoning facilities; Highland Park hand-cuts their distinctive heathered peat and still turns malt by hand (one of only seven distilleries maintaining that tradition). Craft, conscientiousness, and no cutting of corners, ever.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:
The Macallan's reputation needs little explanation: the noted critic F. Paul Pacult has called them "The Rolls-Royce of Single Malts.". Highland Park commands similar reverence. Pacult has singled out their whiskies as "The Best Spirit in the World" not once but three times; what’s more, a Highland Park 25 Year earned a perfect 100 rating at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge, an extreme rarity in Scotch. Finally: in whisky auction sales, two distilleries lead the pack, and you’re reading about both of them right now.

THE STORIES:
* When Alexander Reid established The Macallan, in 1824, on a plateau above the River Spey, he couldn't have imagined it would become the benchmark for luxury single malt. The genius came later: while other distilleries switched to bourbon barrels for economic reasons in the mid-20th century, The Macallan doubled down on sherry cask maturation, establishing direct relationships with Spanish bodegas as early as the 1950s. That decision proved prescient. Today they own Cooper's Oak sawmill in the US and Vasyma cooperage in Spain, with sherry seasoning at their Bodega Estevez creating casks that produce an estimated 80% of their whisky's flavor. The dazzling distillery they opened in 2018 (half spaceship, half whisky cathedral) only cemented their position as the preeminent whisky maker in the world.

* Highland Park began, in 1798, as a side hustle by one Magnus "Mansie" Eunson, a church beadle who hid bottles under his pulpit: preacher on Sundays, distiller by night. After years of smuggling, he finally obtained a proper license. More than two centuries later, Highland Park still follows Mansie's independent streak, maintaining craft traditions that others, elsewhere, abandoned. Situated on the Orkney Islands, where winds are so fierce that trees can't survive, the distillery literally exists in a world apart. They're one of only seven producers in the world that are still turning their malt by hand … and the only one that makes use of Orkney's distinctive heathered peat, proudly hand-cut from Hobbister Moor. "Far from the mainland, far from the mainstream” has long been Highland Park's motto, and it isn’t marketing hype. It’s a kind of rallying cry.

OUR TASTING NOTES:
* The Macallan announces itself as something closer to confection than spirit: pavlova on the nose with coconut and caramel trailing behind, then a fleeting whisper of Manuka honey that vanishes before you can pin it down. Take a sip and you're swimming in rich caramel and mellowed baking spices, vanilla ice cream, stone fruits. In lesser hands, the sweetness might dominate, but it somehow never cloys because those ex-bourbon casks (working alongside sherry-seasoned European and American oak) have managed to file down every sharp edge. It finishes with just enough toasted oak and beautiful, matured restraint to remind you this is whisky, not an after-dinner pastry trolley.

* At 127 proof with 100% peat-smoked barley, this Highland Park ought to be a brawl between heathered peat smoke and intense sherry sweetness, but the first-fill European and American sherry-seasoned oak (plus select refill casks) have brokered some kind of brilliant Highland détente. The color here, too, comes entirely from the cask, and the nose is transportive. The heather is pronounced, of course, but it’s not just heather that comes up from the glass. We love the notes of charred marshmallow and macadamia that keep it company. The palate develops these notes, and brings additional complexity in the form of brandied butter and toasted oak, all threaded through with that distinctive Orkney peat hand-cut from Hobbister Moor. A powerful, fragrant, and harmonious single malt.

ABV:
The Macallan A Night on Earth, 43% (86 proof); Highland Park Cask Strength: Heather: 63.6% (127.2 proof).

FUN FACT:
Highland Park's kilns are more than a century old, and their peat cores date back an estimated four millennia. That’s right: the heather growing in that peat has been infusing Orkney's landscape (and Highland Park's whisky) for longer than written history.

OUR GUARANTEE:
Remember, friends: we always buy and source directly from the estates to ensure pristine provenance. Secure these single malt treasures today!