The Macallan Edition No 5 is the fifth single malt Scotch Whisky from the Speyside distillery’s annual Edition series. It’s wrapped in a beautiful purple label and as it turns out, this Whisky is all about color.
The Macallan Edition No 5 celebrates The Macallan’s natural color spectrum. The distillery teamed up with Pantone Color Institute™ to create the unique shade of purple that’s featured on the packaging. It’s an homage to the diversity and complexity of natural color.
The whisky was blended by whisky maker Sarah Burgess and consists entirely of liquid matured in American oak, in this case a combination of first-fill bourbon casks and first-fill and refill sherry casks.
The Whisky itself is Sunlight Barley in color and features aromas of vanilla and toffee with notes of oak, nutmeg, ginger, lemon basil and pear, according to the distillery. The palate is fresh and sweet with caramel moving into poached peaches and ripe pear. Those flavors are quickly followed by a toffee sweetness with light oak spices in the form of nutmeg and hints of ginger in the background. The finish is long and sweet.
Bottle at 48.5%, The Macallan Edition No 5 costs about $128, depending on how the Pound sterling is doing that day.
The Macallan began producing Whisky in 1824, but just last year open a brand new, £140 million distillery and visitor experience on the Easter Elchies estate near Craigellachie, Moray. It’s certainly a sight to behold and was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture.
The Macallan is owned by Edrington, a privately owned international spirits company based in Scotland. The company also owns Highland Park, The Glenrothes, The Famous Grouse, Brugal 1888 Rum, Snow Leopard Vodka, Tequila Partida, and Wyoming Whiskey as well as others.