Macallan 10 Year Old Sherry Oak

Nose: First, cherry and orange with leather. Then the fruits tone down and this transforms to the main theme: a Waldorf salad with all its elements (weakly salty mayo, red grape, red apple, celery, walnut). (And you might just notice some vanilla, which hints at the apricot that will come in the palate.)

Palate: Woody bitter entrance (sweeter if it has breathed), getting progressively sweeter with orange... spiced only slightly with cinnamon & nutmeg. Near the end transitioning through apple and oak and into... distinct dried apricot.

Finish: The dried apricot sustains, especially on the exhale, while a ginger pepperiness fades into wood.

I thought this compared closest to Aberlour 10 and so tasted them head-to-head. The Macallan nose has something more savory and less sweet (more Waldorf mayo and less orange peel); I prefer the Aberlour. But on the palate, the Macallan wins by being smoother and with that delectable apricot into the finish. Macallan takes the edge with a more varied and enjoyable expression. Some of its oaky bitterness needs smoothening, which I expect to find in more aged versions.

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