The Macallan Harmony Collection is BACK! Expand Your Sense of the Possible!

THE MACALLAN HARMONY V PHOENIX HONEY ORCHID TEA
SINGLE MALT SCOTCH WHISKY 

SPEYSIDE, SCOTLAND

 

WHY BUY:
If you've ever spiked your tea with whisky to nurse a cold — or even if you don’t require a cold — this eye-opening (and spirit-gladdening) new release from "the Roll’s-Royce of single malts" is for you. The 5th installment of The Macallan’s vaunted Harmony Collection (we brought you the 4th, which sold out quickly), it’s a collaboration with JING Tea, which brings the same obsessive intensity to terroir and craft in its single-garden teas as The Macallan brings to its whiskies. We found the taste to be like nothing else, truly — an absolute revelation. The Macallan’s creative director, Jaume Ferras, calls whisky and tea "two crafts deeply rooted in nature, tradition and time,” and with this bottling it’s as if whisky were revealing a different side of itself — fragrant, floral, and even delicate.

OUR TASTING NOTES:
The moment your nose comes into contact with it, you know you’re in for a whisky that's meant to expand your sense of the idiom. Not surprisingly, it opens with a blooming orchard intensity: with peach and apricot so vivid they feel almost three-dimensional, and, trailing just behind these notes, a vein of floral honey. On the palate, fresh peaches arrive in rich syrup alongside warm citrus and toffee, and then, just when you think to settle in, secure in what you know, it takes you on a fascinating detour, as those light floral notes lead you to a delicate leafy astringency. The oolong character comes through pure and clear. I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk just a bit about the cask orchestration, which impressed us with its deft integration of elements: sherry-seasoned American oak delivers the fruit and florals; European oak provides roasted richness and tannic bite; and those ex-bourbon casks add a touch of dessert wine sweetness that takes you home, in a long and stretching finish.

THE SPECS:
The Macallan Harmony V is matured predominantly in sherry-seasoned American oak casks, balanced by sherry-seasoned European oak casks and American oak casks that previously held bourbon. Every cask, The Macallan reports, was nosed for quality by The Whisky Mastery Team and, to guarantee quality control, underwent an average of 636 sensory checks (!) before bottling. This is a distiller that has never taken shortcuts, and, accordingly, the whisky contains no added caramel coloring; its warm honey hue comes entirely from the oak casks. Finally: in keeping with the sustainability ethos of the Harmony collection, the presentation box is crafted using repurposed waste tea leaves.

THE STORY:
When Alexander Reid established The Macallan, in 1824, on a plateau above the River Spey, he couldn't have imagined its evolution into the benchmark for luxury single malt. From those humble Highland beginnings, The Macallan steadily built its reputation through an almost fanatical attention to detail. Their innovative approach to wood management (establishing direct relationships with sherry bodegas in Spain as early as the 1950s), set new standards for the industry. While other distilleries were switching to bourbon barrels for economic reasons, The Macallan doubled down on their commitment to sherry cask maturation, a decision that would prove prescient. By the 1980s, The Macallan had earned its nickname as "The Rolls-Royce of Single Malts." The opening of their new £140 million distillery in 2018 — an architectural marvel that somehow manages to both honor tradition and embrace the future — only cemented their position at the apex of whisky production. Today, their releases are among the most sought-after in the world, with vintage bottles regularly setting auction records and collectors and connoisseurs alike lining up to secure new releases as if they were snatching up tickets to the most difficult-to-access Broadway show.

ABV:
43.9% (87.8 proof).

FUN FACT:
The Macallan's new distillery, unveiled in 2018, features an undulating, grass-covered roof that mimics the surrounding hills so perfectly that local sheep have been known to wander on up for a little nibble!

OUR GUARANTEE:
As always, we only buy and ship directly from the distillery, to ensure pristine provenance. Secure your bottle today!