Macallan

Macallan is the whisky people buy when they want the recipient to recognise the bottle, and that reputation does the brand a slight disservice. Behind the name sits a genuinely unusual house style: unusually heavy reliance on sherry-seasoned European oak, an unusually narrow cut off the stills, and no colouring added. Those three decisions are why a Macallan tastes the way it does, and they are also why the range splits so sharply.

How the range divides. Double Cask blends American and European oak and lands softer and sweeter. Sherry Oak uses European oak only and is drier, darker in flavour rather than just in colour, and more tannic. Colour-named and travel editions sit outside both. If you have only ever had the 12, you have tasted one corner of the house.

Where the money stops buying flavour. Up to about the 18, each step adds something you can taste. Above that, you are increasingly buying rarity and a bottle that holds its value, which is a legitimate reason to buy but a different one. If nobody at the table is going to notice, the 12 Sherry Oak is not a compromise.

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