The Macallan Revamps Its Core Scotch Whisky Look, Line Up

Scotland’s The Macallan distillery, in addition to its brand new, nearly $190 million distillery in the Speyside region, has been bringing to the market this year a range of unique expressions such as its roughly $60,000 72 year old whisky. It is also now revamping its core line up, consolidating some things and debuting an updated bottle design.

The revamped The Macallan Scotch whisky bottle design, according to those behind it, takes design cues from its luxury Rare Cask expression. The following is what consumers should expect to see on retail liquor store shelves moving forward:

• A broad-shouldered bottle with a chevron cut that tapers toward the neck
• A clear color-coding system and icons to identify different ranges based on cask make-up
• Enhancing the wooden boxes for all expressions 25 years or older by using real oak
• Expressions 18 years or older feature new, elevated packaging and a heavier glass weight bottle with wider shoulders and larger base
• An anti-refill enclosure and anti-counterfeit technology to ensure that consumers are protected at the point of purchase

In addition to the new bottle and packaging enhancements, the core whiskies themselves are being consolidated into three ranges said to reflect the type of cask being used to mature it. More specifically,

• Sherry Oak Range: Single malt whiskies matured in hand-picked Sherry-seasoned oak casks from Jerez, Spain.
• Double Cask Range: Maturation in hand-picked Sherry-seasoned American and Sherry-seasoned European oak casks.
• Triple Cask Matured Range: Matured in Sherry-seasoned European, Sherry-seasoned American oak casks and ex-bourbon American oak casks.

As part of this, distillery officials noted, the Fine Oak range – launched in 2004 – will be renamed Triple Cask Matured. Fine Oak has always been matured in three different cask types, so renaming it Triple Cask Matured puts it in line with Sherry Oak (one cask type) and Double Cask (two cask types).

“We want to make it easy for our consumers to select a whisky that’s right for them and for the many whisky moments they are experiencing,” said Sam Leotta, Senior Brand Manager at The Macallan, in a prepared statement. “By consolidating our core ranges to Sherry Oak, Double Cask and Triple Cask Matured, we’re able to highlight the unique and rich diversity of whisky styles coming out of our distillery and also encourage new and existing fans to try The Macallan across a variety of flavor profiles suitable for many different occasions.”