IB SMWS 24.108 13yo 1996 57.9% - Macallan

[TheTross]

'Ferrari Screech'

Nose: Fairly sweet. Initially quite prickly, which thankfully settles down after a short while. Quite heavily sherried. Lots of fruit, particularly citrus. Toffee, chocolate, coffee and notes of treacle syrup and nuts. Touches of wood polish. A little sulphur (mainly burnt matchstick/snuffed-out candle) and soil. Traces of methane occasionally.

Palate: A fairly dusty mouthfeel. Quite hot after a few seconds. Lots of sherry character - mildly vinous this time - and citrus again. Quite fruity. Chocolate and liquorice notes.

Finish: Sherry and fruit, becoming a little creamy and mentholated. Liquorice. Notes of nuts and toffee. Pronounced sulphur notes develop at the end, which seem to linger alongside the sherry.


There's not as much sulphur in here as I was expecting but there definitely is some, particularly at the end of the finish. For me, of course, the presence of sulphur is very much a plus point so on a personal level I'll say that this is pretty good stuff all in all, but if you're not a fan of sulphur then you may well struggle. The oft-dreaded s-word aside, I suppose I could just say that this is a quite typical example of a well-sherried Macallan.