The fact that The Macallan is the most prolific Scotch distillery is no accident. The Moray darling is guided by its Six Pillars of whisky-making brilliance: natural color, mastery, small spirit stills, the estate, exceptional oak casks, and sherry seasoning. Back in 2005, the Macallan rolled out biennial releases that visually honored these principles with the eponymous Six Pillars Collection, each released in a different crystal decanter designed by Lalique.
Today, the Macallan is honoring the Six Pillars once more with its 2022 M Collection of single malt whiskies, rolling out with the first three in the set: M, M Black, and M Copper. This time around, each bottle, also made by Lalique crystal, is structured the same as one another, but what differs is the color of the glass itself, each color visually paying tribute to one of the Six Pillars. Where the M and M Black were released back in 2019 and 2020 and are getting reissued here for 2022, the M Copper is a brand-new addition to the distillery.
As a nod to the small spirit stills that were still used by The Macallan while other distilleries moved to larger stills for a higher production yield, M Copper glows with a golden hue and has a bouquet of banana, pear, and vanilla, which leads to more of the same on the palate, as well as some malt and spiced oak. On the other hand, the Macallan M 2022 Release focuses on the natural colors of Macallan’s whisky, displayed brilliantly through the clear crystal bottle. This liquor comes from hand-selected casks to exude notes of licorice, tea leaves, and chocolate orange. The Macallan M Black 2022 Release represents the “mastery” pillar, with a black bottle as an ode to the black-ended casks chosen to hold the peated whisky. As such, this spirit has warmer notes of candied oranges, honeyed fig, dark chocolate, and spiced ginger.
The Macallan M Collection 2022 Release is available in limited quantities now from select retailers. The M, M Black, and M Copper have a going price of $6,750, $7,750, and $8,500, respectively.
