07/07/2026 Speymalt

Macallan 2006/2020 (57.3%, Gordon & MacPhail Speymalt, C#9672, 294b): nose: woah! It is a huge Sherry cask, dry and earthy. Coffee grounds, to an extent, but more soil, earth, clay floors, nuggets of clay stuck to farming tools, and plant roots. For some reason, I am thinking of uprooted rhododendrons, but it is difficult to understand why, let alone explain it. A little downstream from that are prunes, elderberry compote, blackcurrant jelly and black shoe polish. Midnight-blue paint is next, drying on the body of a model car, then dead leaves and humus. More than the clay floor of a warehouse, this might be the dark soil of a forest. The second nose is more mechanical -- dusty (farming) machinery that has not been used for yonks and is in dire need of grease. It is a disused metallic downpipe in a warehouse that will likely burst upon contact with the first drop of water, so distressed it is. In the long run, we also pick up rancio and pickled oranges. Mouth: ooft! It is lively and strong. Chopped ginger dripping with its own juice, green chilli, mace in syrup. We also spot the expected prunes and currants, and, maybe, earth and honey mixed together. Chewing is akin to finding the key to a construction site where they are digging foundations: it becomes so earthy it is borderline comical. Dried fruits provide a backdrop, and there is no shortage of wood spices, ginger first, now joined by dried lemongrass and ground mace. The second sip is the deep purple of a mix of berries: blackcurrants, blueberries boysenberries, dewberries. Chewing gives it a cough-drop taste, which one could interpret as meaning it adds liquorice and camphor. A little medicinal, that way, it tramples those cough drops into dark, bramble-y earth. Finish: a tranquil force, it does its thing without shouting and it is only in the long run that one realises how powerful this is: the finish is coating and never-ending, really, with pineapple rings from a tin can heated white, chilli-infused currants, soil in tin cans, powdered ginger and ground mace. The second gulp reignites the dark-berry fire, with blackcurrants, blueberries, huckleberries, and myrtles all parading, albeit not very ripe. It has a late bitterness that comes unexpected. A strong 7/10 (Thanks for the sample, Savoureur)