First Look: The Macallan Celebrates Famed Scotch Vintage With Limited-Edition Collection
The collection features an ultra-rare 1986 single-cask Scotch and artwork from “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” cover artist Sir Peter Blake.
100 years after The Macallan laid down a groundbreaking 1926 release, the legendary Highland distillery is honoring that legacy with the Romantica Collection, a striking tribute serving as its own 40-year-old vintage, complete with vivid, limited-edition artwork.
Maxim received an advance look into the remarkable journey of the distillery’s latest ultra-aged release—one that hails from just a single sherry seasoned European oak cask—via an interview with The Macallan Creative Director Jaume Ferras. The Romantica Collection also debuts a stunning trio of bottles featuring artwork from English pop artist Sir Peter Blake, who co-created the sleeve design for the Beatles’ 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band; as well as Michael Dillon and Valerio Adami. Remarkably, each artist worked on artwork for the original release of The Macallan 1926, which went to market in 1986 as a 60-year-old whisky. It went on to become the most expensive spirit or wine ever sold at auction, and the distinct creations of each artist now grace 86 new bottles apiece, for a very limited-edition run of 258 bottles.
The exceptional 1986 Scotch was laid down in cask no. 9925 just as the 1926 vintage was reaching the end of its maturation, a way to nod both the past and the present, Ferras told Maxim. “This is our way to talk about the singularity, the continuity,” he said. “Something stopped, but something else started.” In releasing the 1986 vintage, The Macallan brought back its original trio of The Macallan 1926 artists, and the journey to its forthcoming official launch took about six years to come to life. “It’s a lot of ingredients and it’s a lot of excitement,” Ferras said of the project and the illustrious Scotch within.
The term ‘Romantica’ felt especially fitting for the series given the distillery’s deep ties to nature across its sprawling and lush estate, Ferras noted. “We’ve been able to look back a century ago and reflect on how time passes,” Ferras said, noting that each artist dreamed up their own distinct, deep outlook on the mission of The Macallan.
Sir Peter Blake’s artwork in the Romantica Collection, for instance, examines the distillery’s spiritual home of Easter Elchies House, where guests celebrated the 1986 opening of The Macallan Octagon Room, a manor house music room. Valerio Adami contributed Romantica (1986), a tribute to The Macallan brand custodian Janet ‘Nettie’ Harbinson, who was present for the original 1926 distillation. Michael Dillon dreamed up The Macallan Estate, a green-tinged nod to the breathtaking natural sprawl of the distillery grounds.
It’s a gripping story coursing with legacy and beauty, and that includes the 46.8 percent 1986 vintage itself. The Macallan notes the elusive Scotch has maintained plenty of character throughout its journey, touching on nose notes of bittersweet toffee and canned peaches, with more glazed peach and brown sugar on the palate. The whisky pours in its natural color, a luxe and blazing amber. “Over forty years of slumber, the whisky has evolved with extraordinary grace, developing a luminous character of fruits, spice and rich oak,” said The Macallan Master Whisky Maker Kirsteen Campbell. The milestone echoes the distillery’s deft touch at delivering superbly aged whisky in a fashion that goes far beyond a typical bottle of Scotch, Ferras added. “We know the importance of telling a story about the past,” he told Maxim.
To honor the occasion, the Romantica Collection arrives as a complete trio and can be purchased directly from The Macallan (price available upon request) starting July 30th. Each bottle and its vibrant artwork comes in a decorated, bespoke European oak wooden presentation box, including a numbered certificate signed by Campbell herself. The opportunity to toast a centennial while releasing a new, carefully aged whisky as tribute isn’t lost on The Macallan, Ferras noted. “It’s good to remember where we come from as humans … we forget very quickly what happened yesterday,” Ferras said. “This is a real, emotionally speaking… (chance) to don’t forget where we come from, because that guides where we go next.”