Macallan 1851 Inspiration Review: 150 YO Whisky

WNFdiary is not just a Cognac lover but also enjoys other great spirits. This time, we came across an extraordinary gentleman from Scotland – Macallan 1851 Inspiration. Scotch whiskies surely are some of the greatest ones in the world and this one is no secret. Lately, however, the best ones have come from Japan. Guess what? This Scottish distillery has some relations with Japan. In 1986, the Japanese company Suntory bought out a quarter of the stocks and recently Highland Distillers has bought out the remaining stocks, so today the Macallan distillery is not a family business anymore as it was before.

Not Anymore Family Bussines

Anyway, there is no reason to panic as spirits from this house are amazing and their philosophy is still the same. They are still using smaller stills with the unique shape for maximizing the contact with copper. Those extraordinary stills have appeared on the back of a Bank of Scotland £10 banknote. Yes, those beauties really are special. The distillery is surrounded by nature in the Speyside area, which is famous for its great spirit makers. They definitely used this untouched nature to their advantage. Picking only the best raw materials for making the best single malt spirit.

Macallan Fake

Macallan 1851 Inspiration is NAS (No Age Statement) single malt whisky with an interesting story in the background. The Company bought some antique pieces of Macallans bottles from 1841, 1851, 1861, 1874, and 1876. The fast tests were positive, so they did a series of replicas. Even the flask is a replica of that time and this story would have been a success if there hadn’t been complications in the year 2000. The ‘antiques’ they based those on turned out to be a fake… Laboratory tests had shown that 70% of their old ones were fakes. And the biggest fun is that those fakes used to be 10 years old so… The production of replicas was stopped but they started to produce inspiration instead and those are rare. Most of them are sold in Taiwan. We were lucky to try some of this great spirit and if it wasn’t inspired by the original 1851, we would like to imagine it so.

My Tasting Notes

The color of Macallan 1851 Inspiration is really deep amber and the direct sun into it shows its cut. On the nose, this whisky is nicely balanced with vanilla and woody notes with some fresh citrus. Very fruity notes are supported by the elegant taste of some exotic fruit – I’d say mango and resin. On the palate somehow I didn’t find expected fruitiness. However, from behind, I could taste some roasted chestnuts and vanilla. The woody character is not too strong and it is nicely composed with some fresh notes. The aftertaste is medium long with some spiciness and oaky taste.

Macallan 1851 Inspiration Review Card

• 9/10
  PACKAGING – BOTTLE – 9/10
• 9/10
  ON THE NOSE – 9/10
• 8.6/10
  ON THE PALATE– 8.6/10
• 8.7/10
  FINISH – 8.7/10
• 7.7/10
  VALUE – 7.7/10

Conclusion

This sample for sure is not an 1851 replica, but, O.K., we would give it than a 1990 replica. It’s smooth and it shouldn’t be forgotten. Not because of the story behind it, it is still the Macallan after all! Well, the downside of this great bottle is a price, which is in my opinion too high. At pricey 700 euros, you should get some more fun from this distillery.