Macallan OB X 7,1947 onwards 12-30 years + Crabbie 30 year

[lincoln imp]

Tasted in this order, scores for nose/palate/finish

12 year 40% sherry oak +/- 2018 83/85/83 6th
12 year 43% matured in sherry wood 1990’s 84/83/82 7th
15 year 1947 80 proof sherry wood Rinaldi import 94/95/93 clear winner
15 year 1955 80 proof sherry wood Rinaldi import 92/93/91 runner up
18 year 1972 43% sherry cask 92/92/91 joint 3rd
25 year bottled 2011 43% sherry oak 90/91/92 4th
30 year bottled 2020 43% sherry oak 92/92/91 joint 3rd
30 year Crabbie IB 48.6% Refil oloroso sherry butt 88/91/89 5th

Macallan is the premier whisky brand for the well heeled or people at times who want to be a whisky somebody and bang on about the awesome quality.
For some unknown reason to me they still are regarded as possibly the best whisky brand in the world yet in my humble opinion they have produced very little of note in the last 15-20 years.
Their reputation of the older bottlings is well deserved as it tasted superb and ticked all the boxes of any whisky enthusiast but the more recent stuff is a pale bland and at times pretty tasteless and bears no resemblance to the old stuff and then you have the premium stuff now like the 30 year that is £5000?
That sort of price tag is an insult to me and should be for anyone else who knows anything about what a good whisky tastes like,the sample I got cost a bomb but I really wanted it for the h2h.

Regarding the tasting the new 12 year was pretty much where i thought it would be at around 84 points but the older 12 year i was expecting it to be so much better but alas it wasn’t and bear in mind at auction you can pay over £700 for that one litre bottle.
The 1947 was a work of art and the best here, the 1955 was not far behind, the 1972, was much better than the last time I had and up a few points as was the 25 year which I have always had a downer on, tasting my last sample it was up 4 points higher and more enjoyable.
I have to admit the 30 year OB was good but comparing it to a £500 whisky like the Benromach 35 year OB the Benromach is better in taste and obviously value for money.
Finally the Crabbie surprised me as it was better than expected and not that far behind the 30 year OB bearing in mind it was a refill cask

I am not a fan of later stuff but the old stuff are excellent and often worthy of their high status but not always mind I only scored the 1954 OB 80 proof 85 points and that was being generous.

Tasting notes, in order tasted

12 year 40% sherry oak +/- 2018

Not bad, just a bit insipid , not a great start to a H2H.

Nose
The overwhelming thought here is a manufactured nose, with plenty of caramel?
It reminds me of some sherried blends.
Light ginger notes are married to orange marmalade of the dark breakfast variety, there is caramel, millionaire shortbread with cream.
Taste
This is smooth, absolutely no rough edges but it tastes so false to me and to be honest this is the same sort of profile some blends have, smooth and easy to drink, so I should like it as I like blends, right?
What the nose hinted at is all here and there is quite a lot of spice on top of that.
The problem I have is that it is pretty boring, the creamy not is quite invasive but the spice not is very good.
Finish
It starts to get a little dry and a metallic note appears on the table which is a negative for me..

12 year 43% matured in sherry wood 1990’s

I was expecting this to be so much better judging by the average score.
Nose
The nose seems quite herbal to me with a spice edge at first.
Plenty of green fruits like gooseberry, kiwi and in ripe plum but then a nice coffee note creeps in.
Taste
I find this a little on the bitter side at first and also slightly metallic.
There is quite a lot lot of ginger spice with a little pepper and also caramel.
Finish
Remaining spicy with a caramel sweetness to the end and like the later 12 year a metallic note on the tail.

15 year 1947 80 proof sherry wood Rinaldi import

Top drawer whisky
Nose
A very expressive nose to start with on mulled wine spices mixing with a little chocolate and coffee with hints of blackcurrant.
I swear I can smell roast beef (nice) , yes it is beef!!!
There is also a faint red wine note (tannins) , dark plain chocolate, hints of hazelnut, and the faintest hint of smoke and candied orange and finally smoked bacon.
Taste
Great mouth feel and great taste wow.
Creamy with bags of sweet spices mixing with what I can only describe as a flawless Sherry that is almost fragile.
The sweetness is a mixture of very rich milk chocolate, raspberry truffle sweets , the ones covered in milk chocolate.
It also has strawberry milkshake sweetness, the balance is too draw
Finish
Not the longest but so elegant.

15 year 1955 80 proof sherry wood Rinaldi import

A very good old Macallan
Nose
Very rich, with a smoke note is my first thought.
it has an almond note for sure, with possibly candied orange, barbecue spare ribs, dry spices like, pepper maybe nutmeg, plenty going on with a very faint smoke bacon note.
Taste
Quite fruity, on rich plum, red and blackcurrant, with caramel, and stroopwafles that sort of thing.
There is a faint black cherry note and now the spice note is increasing, for me it gets a little dry but the spice and sweet Sherry mixing with a bubblegum note more than compensate
Finish
Good medium length with the sweetness fading slightly.

18 year 1972 43% sherry cask

Re taste for a H2H.
This is better than I remember.
Good balance
Nose
Slightly vinegary at first with plenty of spice.
Faint sweet cigar notes and while I am on about smoking I also get Spanish Gold sweet tobacco that was around for kids in the 1970's.
There is also a slight blueberry note
Taste
Quite nice on crumbly biscuit, faint ginger and sweet dark fruit jams.
Caramel slices, sweet toffee, hint of candied orange with bags of spices
Finish
Remaining sweet, with juicy flavours to the end.

25 year bottled 2011 43% sherry oak

Re taste for a H2H (no 6)
This is much better than the last time (same bottle)
Nose
A spicy and fruity nose to start with.
Smells like bubblegum so no bad thing
Rich sherry, dark fruit jam, hints of wood and some pepper spice.
Taste
The mouth feels is decent but this is not a sweet one to start with and it also has a little woody bitterness, that said there is some depth of profile on show here.
This one is juicy fruit various dark fruits and very juicy, black currant and Samson jams with a little raspberry and blackcurrant jelly.
Finish
Quite long with the sweetness fading now but staying juicy with the fruit re emerging on the tail

30 year bottled 2020 43% sherry oak

First tasting note for this bottle, at this price it is no wonder.
No 7 in a H2H.
This is a nice whisky with good balance but £5000 a bottle you would need your head looking at if you think a whisky like this is worth that sort of money.
As a drinkers it is worth far far less than that perhaps £500
Anywhere between 90-93 points for me, if you do not take the price into account.
Nose
Rich and slightly smokey at first.
Very subtle and faint smoke with Uber Rich dark fruit like blackcurrant, blackberry, damson jam with some Rivera eye crackers note in the mix, sounds a bit strange but it works.
Going back to it there is some marmalade in the frame.
Taste
Very rich as you would expect, good balance with a nice mix of fruit, spice and sherry.
There is a nice breakfast marmalade note, mixing with red plum and a faint hint of black cherry.
Balance is very good, no wood to speak of which is a big plus.
Going back to the empty glass it smells even better.
Finish
remaining composed and spicy staying juicy until the end just loosing a little sweetness

30 year Crabbie IB 48.6% Refil oloroso sherry butt

This was better than I was expecting, it is certainly not Macallan 30 poor relation.
Nose
It certainly smells like a Macallan and is similar to the 30 year 2020 OB that was before it but less of everything.
Marlborough tart, hints of ginger and peat, the flavours are there, just not expressive enough to get over 90 points.
Taste
Now then, big Sherry but not the sweetest and it also has some oak.
There is a nice marmalade note, with some spice and candied fruits like orange & perhaps apricot?
This also has some peat which grows as you go ons
Finish
Stays spicy until the end but looses some sweetness
_________________
Pour me a glass please.