Macallan 1989-2011 - 21 Year Old - Mackillops Choice - Single Cask - World Of Whiskies Exclusive

The grandest of Speyside’s blue chip distilleries, Macallan was founded in 1824 and carved a reputation for luxury single malt whisky in the 1980s with string of 18-year-old and 25-year-old sherry-matured vintage single malts distilled in the 1960s and 1970s, building on the renown of earlier highly-regarded licensed bottlings by Gordon & MacPhail and Campbell, Hope and King.

In the early 2000s, as the supply and quality of even the best sherry casks declined dramatically, Macallan introduced their Fine Oak series, an initially controversial range of bottlings that included bourbon-matured spirit in the cask recipe. While the Fine Oak series took some time to find its audience, Macallan’s status as the top Speyside distillery - particularly at auction - was already well-established and today a legion of eager Macallan fans ensure that each new luxury bottling from the distillery sells out immediately on release.

Iain Mackillop & Co. Ltd is a subsidiary of Angus Dundee Distillers, owners of the Glencadam and Tomintoul distilleries. Iain Mackillop & Co. was set up in 1998 and bottles single malt and grain whiskies for their Mackillop’s Choice range. The Mackillop’s Choice range is named after Angus Dundee’s Export Director and Master Blender (Iain) Lorne Mackillop MW, who selects the casks for bottling.

At the time of writing in 2022, MacKillop’s Choice had bottled over 450 whiskies, about half of which were cask strength single casks, with the remainder bottled at 43% or 46%. The company distinguished itself early with fine 1960s vintages of Longmorn and Glen Grant alongside 1980s gems from Linlithgow and Port Ellen; recent highlights have included 1990s vintages from Laphroaig, Ardbeg and Bowmore.