Typically, the challenge of figuring out the Taste of the Month is a tricky one, as memories of the month just past have to be sorted and sifted through until one flavour emerges as the obvious choice. Every once in a while, however, the TOTM sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb. This is one of those times.
The setting was the Hotel Intercontinental in Toronto and my tasting companion was Mark Izzat, brand ambassador for The Macallan Distilleries of Speyside, Scotland. In Mark's possession was a small flask of a very special whisky: The Macallan 1949, a fifty-year-old single malt!
As eager as I was to try this esteemed whisky, I was also apprehensive. It is my view that long aging (beyond, say, eighteen years or so) is not necessarily a great friend to malt whiskies, and I feared that I might be setting myself up for a tremendous disappointment. Further affecting my doubts was the fact that I have always preferred the 18-year-old Macallan to the much more expensive 25-year-old.
As it turned out, and as I'm sure you have by now concluded, my fears were groundless. The aroma on the 1949 is stunning, highly phenolic but balanced marvellously by big fruitiness (including mandarin and kiwi) and more mellow woody notes. As the dram sits in the glass, the peaty, phenolic character slowly recedes, to be replaced in part by vanilla notes and hints of dried fruit.
The body of this whisky lives up to its aroma. The fruit remains in force up front, but is subdued in short order by a spicy mix of dates and figs, smokiness and nuances of toasted nuts and clove. The finish is long, dry, lingering and pleasingly smoky.
Now the bad news: In the US, The Macallan 1949 is selling for about $3500 a decanter; in the UK, it's £2000; and when it hits Canada later this spring, it should be going for something around $5000. Which means that the memory of this TOTM will have to do me for a long, long time.
We're very interested in your news, notes, comments and questions, so please feel free to contact SBWoB by clicking on the link below. Or you can add your comments when you sign up for the World of Beer Update, a mid-month e-mail newsletter that brings even more of the world of beer to your computer.
