Macallan is one of the great malt whiskies of Scotland, its reputation for finesse, richness and complexity at least partly due to the exclusive use of sherrywood for ageing its whisky. Hardly any sherry is shipped to the UK in cask anymore, and Macallan were the first distillers to take special steps to meet their needs. New oak casks are commissioned in Jerez, Spain, and used for ageing sherry for two or more years before being shipped as whole barrels to Scotland to host Macallan spirit. Only 30 years ago Macallan was essentially a local whisky and was not advertised. The company’s first annual promotion budget for the bottled malt amounted to £25 for a poster for a sponsored shinty match; today its advertising costs run into millions of pounds worldwide.

The distillery was sold to Highland Distillers and Suntory of Japan in 1996, having been partly owned by the same family for a century.

There are two still houses and 21 stills, and since each wash stillsupplies two spirit stills instead of the customary one, Macallan has trios, not pairs, of stills.

Macallan is particularly praised for its rich and profound flavours. The sherrywood certainly endows much of the succulence but it is worth noting that 'new' Macallan direct from the still is considered to be a complex, fine and balanced malt. There are a number of official releases between 10 and 25 years old, with seven-year-old specifically for the Italian market where malts are drunk young. With such a range there is less scope for the independents other than for batches that might crop up from time to time with different cask treatment.