Macallan (The) 1960 Campbell, Hope and King, Elgin Sherry Wood Matured Import by Centrachat, Paris bottled at 80° Proof

Lot presentation

Macallan (The) 1960 Campbell, Hope and King, Elgin Sherry Wood Matured Import by Centrachat, Paris bottled at 80° Proof

The wine

A Macallan distilled in 1960 that was most likely bottled 15 years later, as was generally the case for vintage NAS editions of Macallan from this era. It is around this age that Macallan is at its best, still young but old enough for the spirit to have softened under the oak's influence. True to the house style, it has been aged entirely in sherry casks. It was common practice at the time to use old transport casks to age whisky. Now that sherry is no longer transported in casks, barrels designed especially for ageing whisky are now used, which does not give the same result. Many things have changed since the 60s and 70s—from the variety of barley used to the casks, yeasts and the way in which the stills are heated—and Macallans from this era are now completely unique, which explains their intense popularity among both collectors and enthusiasts. This bottling was imported to France by Centrachat.

Macallan is to Scottish single malts what Petrus is to French grand crus - a monument! In 2023, a bottle of 1926 Valerio Adami collection for £2.2 million.
Macallan owes this renown to the excellence of its production methods and its sherry-cask maturation, as well as the business acumen of its owners who, in the early 20th century, set out to conquer numerous markets, and the aptness of their vision of the distillery and its single malt, which they recognized as being akin to a château and grand cru. This led to the whisky adopting practices from the world of wine, including vintage bottlings for all versions aged 15 years and older, with the help up until the late 1960s of companies such as Campbell, Hope & King and Gordon & MacPhail, who bottled and distributed the malt on The Macallan's behalf. The 1990s saw the appearance of elegant 25 and 30 year olds, including those presented in the Tudor Crystal Decanters range, presaging the change in direction The Macallan would take in the new millennium. In 1999, an outstanding copper-adorned curved crystal decanter was released for a 50 Year Old edition distilled in 1949.