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Macallan
Founded
1824
Region
Speyside
Status
Operational
Company
Production type
Single Malt
Production capacity
15,000,000 litres per year
Former name
Elchies
Founded in 1824 by Alexander Reid through his acquisition of a legal distilling license (a requirement introduced by the Excise Act of the previous year), Macallan is a malt distillery in Scotland's Speyside region and one of the most recognised names in all of Scotch whisky. Part of the Edrington Group, the distillery and its malt are positioned at the very top of the luxury single malts category, a status predicated upon the legend of the high quality whiskies it has produced over the years, particularly in the second half of the 20th century.
Housed upon the Easter Elchies estate, since 2018 the distillery itself has been housed in a modern purpose-built structure (of unique subterranean design) that has a distilling capacity of up to 15 million litres of spirit per year. The majority of that spirit is aged in sherry casks from Jerez in Spain, however bourbon-cask ageing is also increasingly common.
The history of the modern Macallan single malt brand begins in the 1960s when the official label was licensed to two Elgin-based bottlers, Gordon & MacPhail and Campbell, Hope & King. The latter produced an 8- and 12-year-old age statement as well as a collection of "over 15-year-old" vintages, the majority of which was imported to Italy by wine Fratelli Rinaldi.
In 1980 the distillery assumed control of the bottling and distribution of its own brand for the first time, adding a 10-year-old to its core range and after some brief experimentation, formalising the annual vintage releases as an 18-year-old in 1984. Under the guidance of managing director, Allan Shiach, the distillery made efforts to position itself as an ultra-premium brand, releasing eye catching limited edition such as the "red ribbon" vintages and debuting its Anniversary Malt range in 1983.
Despite brand redesigns in 1999, 2006 and 2018, the sherry cask-matured 12- and 18-year-old remain the flagship core range releases to this day. These are joined by an annual 25- and 30-year-old and the Double Cask range (which introduces bourbon cask-ageing). Supporting these are a regular stream of serialised and one-time limited releases that include the long running Fine & Rare collection, Archival Series and M Collection.
Current owner
1999-present
1996-1999
Macallan Distillery
Easter Elchies
Aberlour
AB38 9RX
Scotland
Active brands
Single Malt
