Rare Cask’s rich mahogany-red whisky showcases two of The Macallan’s greatest and most defining strengths – sherry seasoned oak casks and natural colour. Rare Cask combines knowledge, skill, passion, commitment and creativity to create a remarkable whisky worthy of its name.
Crafted to showcase complexity and depth, Rare Cask is drawn from the broadest spectrum of casks used in maturation on The Macallan Estate. Hand-picked by the brand’s whisky making team, the combination of sherry seasoned American and European oak casks – a high proportion of them first fill – deliver an exquisite and unmistakably woody whisky with a rich hue.
Incomparable access to the most extensive range of cooperages in Spain gives the brand some of the finest and scarcest casks to choose from to create Rare Cask, which results in a diversity in the finished whisky unlike other Macallan expression.
It is the role of the whisky making team to get to know each and every cask in detail, from how it interacts with the spirit to the spectrum of colours it imparts. This relationship between cask and craftsman, spirit and skill, ultimately presents the Rare Cask. The Macallan Rare Cask Batch No.1, 2018 Release introduced a new look for Rare Cask, designed to give greater insight into the whisky making process.
This first batch was one of three batches to be released in 2018, with further batches planned for subsequent years. Each limited release batch represents the volume of only 50 oak sherry butts.
Every Macallan single malt reveals the unrivalled commitment to the mastery of wood and spirit for which The Macallan has been known since it was established in 1824. It is an expression of the brand’s enduring desire to go beyond the ordinary, to seek out the extraordinary, and create peerless single malts.
Sourced, crafted, toasted and seasoned under the watchful eye of The Macallan Master of Wood, these hand-picked casks are delivered to the demanding specifications of The Macallan Master Distiller and his team.
Once filled, the maturing spirit remains undisturbed in the same casks for the necessary number of years it needs to be worthy of its destined Macallan expression. It is these oak casks that make the greatest contribution to the quality, natural colour and distinctive aromas and flavours which lie at the heart of The Macallan single malt.
