The Macallan 1841 Replica Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Note: Product has come from a private collection and as such may have some minor scuffing/scratches/handling marks. This one in particular has some heavy, black smudging on multiple panels of the box, mostly the top. Actual product pictured.

The Macallan Distillery was founded in 1824 by Alexander Reid, who had farmed the land around Easter Elchies for some years as a tenant of the Earl of Seafield. In 1841 he was fifty-five years old and lived in Easter Elchies House with his wife and two children. He employed seven men; in the summer they worked the land, and in the winter - the distilling season - they made whisky: around 6,500 gallons in a good year, which meant that Macallan was a medium-sized concern, compared with its neighbours. He sold his whisky locally in stone-ware flagons or 'jars', holding between two and eight gallons, and after the abolition of the glass tax in 1845, some was sold in bottles.

Filling whisky into glass was still uncommon in the 1850s, and the Macallan 1841 is one of the oldest surviving whisky bottles in existence. The bottles were free-blown, and may be identified by a slight swelling around the base, caused by the glass 'sagging' while it cooled. The glass was always very dark green or brown, owing to particles of iron in the sand used in their manufacture.

Unlike wine, whisky does not deteriorate in a well-sealed bottle, and such changes as do take place are small and subtle, so long as the bottle is properly stored. So the contents of sealed bottles are more or less the same today as when the bottle was filled. The temptation to find out what The Macallan tasted like 150 years ago {bearing in mind that the 1841 will have been matured for eight to ten years} was irresistible. The original 1841 was nosed and tasted by The Macallan's Whisky Maker, Bob Dalgarno, and his team. The resulting inspiration led to the creation of the Macallan 1841 Replica Malt Whisky. Macallan have gone to great lengths to translate the character and presentation of this latest offering. The surface of the original glass bottle was lumpy in places, and the glass itself had trapped small bubbles; the neck was not straight and the body of the bottle was slightly ovoid. All these imperfections, common to early Victorian glassware, were precisely copied in the replica bottles, which were made by master glassmakers Stolzle Flaconnage of Knottingley, West Yorkshire. The replica bottles were then sealed by hand and finished with a faithfully re-created label, using the hand-lettered style of the original. A wonderful collectors piece for any whisky enthusiast. We have one only to sell.

Other reviews... Nose: Incongruously, very fresh. Fudge with vanilla essence and pistachio nuts.Palate: Silky. Fresh, appetising. sweet but not cloying. Light, fresh, delicate, notes of orange-blossom honey.Finish: Very gentle acidity gives balancing dryness. Comment: Delicious whisky, of true sophistication and style. Tasted blindfold, it seems a perfect whisky for today, not an evocation of the past. I would re-package it as 2041. - Michael Jackson, whiskymag.com