Whisky Connosr
Menu
Buy Whisky Online

Macallan Reflexion

Reflect on that!

2 884

@markjedi1Review by @markjedi1

27th Feb 2018

1

Macallan Reflexion
  • Nose
    ~
  • Taste
    ~
  • Finish
    ~
  • Balance
    ~
  • Overall
    84

Show rating data charts

Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

The Macallan Reflexion is probably the most expensive Macallan I have tried to date. It comes in a beautiful decanter and sports a price tag of around 1.000 EUR. The whisky does not carry an age statement and is bottled at drinking strength. It was fully matured on first fill sherry casks of both American and European oak.

The nose starts very sweet on honey and dark fruit. Plums, raisins, dades. Some caramel. Loads of oranges. But completely devoid of spices, making this a very soft and accessible nose. Maybe even a bit too easy, if you know what I mean.

The body is fine and now a nice spiciness in the guise of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves appears. The fruit is the same as on the nose, but with oranges (zest included) in the lead. Some liquorice towards the end. But again, all of this is fairly… simple.

The finish could have done with a bit more length. Still loads of oranges. Reminds me a bit of espresso with chocolate shavings as well.

Nice, but fairly straightforward Macallan, that does not come close to the Edition-series that cost only a tenth of this baby. The price does not reflect the quality (see what I did there?).

Find where to buy Macallan whisky

Related Macallan reviews

Read more Macallan whisky reviews

8 comments

@OdysseusUnbound
OdysseusUnbound commented

"Is bottled at drinking strength"

Aren't all whiskies technically bottled at drinking strength? stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye I'm not surprised that this is underwhelming. I may have a bias against Macallan, but I feel that every Mac I've tried is overpriced. But that's just my subjective value-judgment. Thanks for the review. Did you purchase a bottle of this or did you obtain a sample?

6 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

@OdysseusUnbound I will have to save you a dram of my rapidly depleting Macallan cask strength bottle (now decanted).

At CAD $73 out the door, I do not consider it in any way overpriced. Sadly, you will not find this in stores.

Then again, the $73 bottles are sealed. This was a trade bottle. Not sure how much @paddockjudge paid for this.

Then again (again), this bottle was a catalyst (by way of our first meeting and trade almost 4 years ago) to a great friendship, so whatever money was paid for it is, in my opinion, definitely good value.

I agree that "drinking strength" is a nebulous term. It would help to know if this is @markjedi1's wording or Macallan's. I would find it more acceptable if it were the former.

6 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Alexsweden
Alexsweden commented

I saw this bottle at the last whisky expo i attended. I didn't try it due to the hefty price tag but it seems I didn't miss anything spectacular. It should have been so considering the price!

6 years ago 0

@MadSingleMalt
MadSingleMalt commented

Hellagood euphemism for "watered down"!

6 years ago 2Who liked this?

@RianC
RianC commented

Nice review! Not one I'll be buying but it's still good to see reviews of these kinds of bottlings. This seems honest and fair to me.

I've missed the Macallan boom times but what I have tried hasn't overly impressed.

One for the collectors, I suppose?

6 years ago 0

@markjedi1
markjedi1 commented

@OdysseusUnbound It was a sample that I obtained at a show. I cannot afford this kind of bottle (and would not buy one without trying it first).

6 years ago 1Who liked this?

@markjedi1
markjedi1 commented

@Nozinan Drinking strength is my wording to point out a whisky is bottled at either 40, 43 or 46% and to differentiate from high strength and cask strength. In my opinion drinking strength is also a strength that does not invite adding water.

6 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Robert99
Robert99 commented

@markjedi1 "A bit easy" and "fairly... simple" are not expressions we want to be paired with a 1000 EUR whisky. I am glad for you it was only a sample and not a full bottle.

6 years ago 3Who liked this?