This $50K Macallan Single Malt Scotch Salutes 1930s-Era Airships

The exquisite, limited edition 35 Year scotch whisky comes in a Lalique crystal decanter.

The fifth and final release in The Macallan’s Golden Age of Travel series honors luxurious passenger vessels of a past era: 1930s airships. 

At the liquid core of the limited-edition set is The Macallan 1940, a 35-year-old single-malt scotch that was first bottled in 1975 at 44.4 percent alcohol by volume and then re-bottled in 2019. Here are the antique oak-colored expression’s tasting notes: 

• Aroma: Smoked oak with a richness of orange oil and dried fruits, a light floral note of spring blossoms.
• Palate: Smoked oak, dark chocolate and orange and just a hint of sweet ginger
• Finish: Long, lingering sweet peat with delicate citrus

What pushes “The Airship” over the top is a crystal decanter that’s handcrafted by Lalique with an illustration of the “first civil air transportation machine.” The Macallan has collaborated with the fabled French glassmaker before on other elegant bottles, notably The Macallan 72 Years Old in Lalique, which retailed for an eye-watering $60,000.  

The Macallan The Golden Age of Travel: The Airship is less expensive, but its $50,000 price tag all but ensures that it will be purchased exclusively by wealthy collectors of fine spirits. And that’s if they can secure one of the 46 examples available at a Global Travel Retail location or one of the distillery’s global boutiques.