Let’s continue our journey through these Macallan “Pantone style” (hey, Macallan marketing office, this is an idea! We want royalties) and try the second version, ‘Amber’. Color? Amber, obviously (but clear amber). Of course we have no indication of age: it’s bottled at 40%, like Macallan Gold.

N: warmer than Gold, and with a more pronounced ‘woodiness’ to enrich those beautiful notes of biscuity malt (brioche). A few traces of liqueur, to make the influence of sherry more explicit. Ripe apricot and dehydrated fruit (plums and raisins); some almonds (almond liqueur?) and orange peel. Milk chocolate, toffee, vanilla notes. It would be really interesting to know the proportion of barrels here…

P: vanilla, toffee, caramel, a ‘buttery’ pear (does it make sense for someone else? Anyway, notes of those buttery pears typical of Maradagal… “pear with white or yellow flesh, sugary, juicy, melting”, according to the Battaglia dictionary). Warm butter, malt (we would say apricot jam croissant, or maybe better orange marmalade?). More citrus notes (orange, indeed) and, towards the end, traces of ginger. Impressive raisins. Easy but pleasant.

F: medium-long; dried fruit (lots of walnut), still ripe apricot. Malty. Still, as in Gold, at the end does a suggestion of red fruits come out?

Good, a step forward compared to the Gold; for sure it’s quite simple, but it’s still round and very enjoyable. The very low alcohol content doesn’t seem to do any particular harm – we are surprised, honestly – and the palate maintains good body and intensity. A step forward, and two more points: 84/100 is the verdict. Miguel, who participated in the tasting with us, thinks so, while Serge thinks so. See you tomorrow for Sienna…