It may be hard to imagine today, but for much of the 20th century, Macallan was primarily a constituent malt in blends. It was not until the 1980s downturn in the market that the distillery decided to focus on its single malt brand. Fortuitously, this coincided with the crest of a wave of enthusiasm for the high quality releases that the distillery had licensed to Campbell, Hope & King and Gordon & MacPhail in the 1960s and 1970s. These remain some of the most collectible on the market. While global single malt sales volume is still lead by Speyside neighbours, Glenfiddich and Glenlivet, Macallan is easily the most sought after. So much so in fact, that they had to open a brand new distillery in 2018, a subterranean architectural masterpiece within the Easter Elchies estate, boasting 36 copper pot stills.
The Masters of Photography series of whiskies by Macallan was launched in 2008 and contains numerous chapters, each showcasing the work of a legendary artist behind the lens. This is the fourth release, and consisted of 58 unique single cask whiskies all paired with different Elliott Erwitt prints. There were 35 pairings available for each cask, making this a global release of 2030 bottles.
The whisky comes in a hand crafted flask concealed within a book that features all 58 images in addition to the print that was included with each whisky.
This edition is from cask #3208