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51-561: The Macallan distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Craigellachie in Moray in the north-east of Scotland. The Macallan Distillers Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Edrington , which purchased the brand from Highland Distillers in 1999. The Macallan is generally considered to be the second or third highest-selling single-malt scotch, next to Glenfiddich and, by some accounts, Glenlivet . Originally,

102-413: A London -based company, Pernod Ricard of France and Suntory Global Spirits , a Japanese -owned company. Independent distilleries owned by Scots companies make a substantial amount of whisky too, particularly William Grant & Sons , the largest of these. Grant produces 8% of all Scotch whisky, with brands including Glenfiddich and Balvenie . Glenfiddich is the best-selling single malt Scotch in

153-617: A British Chalcolithic when copper was used between the 25th and the 22nd centuries BC, but others do not because production and use were on a small scale. In Ireland, the final Dowris phase of the Late Bronze Age appears to decline in about 600 BC, but iron metallurgy does not appear until about 550 BC. Around 2500 BC, a new pottery style arrived in Great Britain: the Bell Beaker culture . Beaker pottery appears in

204-531: A major genetic shift in late Neolithic/early Bronze Age Britain and up to 90% of Britain's Neolithic gene pool may have been replaced with the coming of a people genetically similar to the Beaker people of the Lower Rhine region (modern Netherlands/central-western Germany), which had a high proportion of steppe ancestry . According to the evolutionary geneticist Ian Barnes , "Following the Beaker spread, there

255-483: A migration) into Southern Great Britain around the 12th century BC. The disruption was felt far beyond Britain, even beyond Europe, as most of the great Near Eastern empires collapsed (or experienced severe difficulties), and the Sea Peoples harried the entire Mediterranean basin around that time. Cremation was adopted as a burial practice, with cemeteries of urns containing cremated individuals appearing in

306-510: A small loop or ring to make lashing the two together easier. Groups of unused axes are often found together, suggesting ritual deposits to some, but many archaeologists believe that elite groups collected bronze items and perhaps restricted their use among the wider population. Bronze swords of a graceful "leaf" shape, swelling gently from the handle before coming to a tip, have been found in considerable numbers, along with spear heads and arrow points. Great Britain had large reserves of tin in what

357-509: Is adapted from the old Latin word singulum (individual). In the following centuries, the various governments of Scotland began taxing the production of whisky, to the point that most of the spirit was produced illegally. However, in 1823, Parliament passed the Excise Act making commercial distillation legal and profitable. Punishments were imposed on landowners when unlicensed distilleries were found on their properties. The passing of

408-505: Is an era of British history that spanned from c.  2500–2000 BC until c.  800 BC . Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain . Being categorised as the Bronze Age , it was marked by the use of copper and then bronze by the prehistoric Britons, who used such metals to fashion tools. Great Britain in

459-563: Is committed to working with partners like the Scotch Whisky Association to increase our tourism offer and encourage more people to visit our distilleries," the Secretary added. Flavour, aroma, and finish differ widely between single malts. Single malt Scotch whiskies are categorised into the following whisky-producing regions: Campbeltown single malts , Highland single malts , Island single malts (a sub-section of

510-464: Is much harder than copper, by mixing copper with a small amount of tin . With that discovery, the Bronze Age began in Great Britain. Over the next thousand years, bronze gradually replaced stone as the main material for tool and weapon making. The bronze axehead, made by casting , was at first similar to its stone predecessors but then developed a socket for the wooden handle to fit into and

561-533: Is no clear consensus on the date for the beginning of the Bronze Age in Great Britain and Ireland. Some sources give a date as late as 2000 BC, and others set 2200 BC as the demarcation between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. The period from 2500 BC to 2000 BC has been called the "Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age" in recognition of the difficulty of exactly defining the boundary. Some archaeologists recognise

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612-713: Is now Cornwall and Devon in South West England and thus tin mining began. By around 1600 BC, the South-West experiencing a trade boom, as British tin was exported across Europe. Bronze Age Britons were also skilled at making jewellery from gold , as well as occasional objects like the Rillaton Cup and Mold Cape . Many examples have been found in graves of the wealthy Wessex culture of Southern Britain, but they are not as frequent as Irish finds. The greatest quantities of bronze objects found in what

663-604: Is now England were discovered in East Cambridgeshire , where the most important finds were recovered in Isleham (more than 6500 pieces ). The earliest known metalworking building was found at Sigwells, Somerset, England. Several casting mould fragments were fitted to a Wilburton type sword held in Somerset County Museum. They were found in association with cereal grain that has been dated to

714-464: The Hallstatt culture . In 2021, a major archaeogenetics study uncovered a migration into southern Britain during the 500-year period from 1300 to 800 BC. The newcomers were genetically most similar to ancient individuals from Gaul and had higher levels of Early European Farmers ancestry. From 1000 to 875 BC, their genetic marker swiftly spread through southern Britain, which made up around half

765-566: The Mount Pleasant Phase (2700–2000 BC), along with flat axes and the burial practice of inhumation . People of this period were responsible for building Seahenge , along with the later phases of Stonehenge . Silbury Hill was also built in the early Beaker period. Movement of continental Europeans brought new people to the islands from the continent. Recent tooth enamel isotope research on bodies found in early Bronze Age graves around Stonehenge indicates that at least some of

816-584: The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 (SWR 2009), the word "blended" only appeared (in the context of Scotch whisky) on bottles of whisky that contained a mixture of both barley and non-barley grain whisky , but this is no longer the case. Under the terminology established by the SWR 2009, the term "blended malt Scotch whisky" replaced the term "vatted malt" to describe a mixture of single malt Scotch whiskies (malted barley whisky). Only about 10% of

867-510: The 12th century BC by carbon dating . The rich Wessex culture developed in southern Great Britain during that time. The weather, previously warm and dry, became much wetter as the Bronze Age continued, which forced the population away from easily-defended sites in the hills and into the fertile valleys . Large livestock farms developed in the lowlands which appear to have contributed to economic growth and inspired increasing forest clearances. The Deverel-Rimbury culture began to emerge during

918-630: The 1824 Collection and the Quest Collection. Many rare, special releases and other small production run bottlings also exist. In 2001, Michael Martin selected the Macallan 10 Years Old as the official Scotch of the Speaker of the House of Commons , even though Martin himself had given up drinking alcohol. He did smell whiskies to make his selection. This selection continued the tradition of

969-445: The 1830s, Aeneas Coffey patented a refined version of a design originally created by Robert Stein, based on early innovations by Sir Anthony Perrier, for a column still . This new method produced whisky much more efficiently than the traditional pot stills . The new type of still allowed for continuous distillation , without the need for cleaning after each batch was made. This process made manufacturing more affordable by performing

1020-586: The Bronze Age also saw the widespread adoption of agriculture . During the British Bronze Age, large megalithic monuments similar to those from the Late Neolithic continued to be constructed or modified, including such sites as Avebury , Stonehenge , Silbury Hill and Must Farm . That has been described as a time "when elaborate ceremonial practices emerged among some communities of subsistence agriculturalists of western Europe". There

1071-829: The Easter Elchies estate near Craigellachie, made the shortlist for the Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture. It was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners . Also in 2019, the distillery won the RIAS Andrew Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award . The distillery has 36 stills , comprising 12 wash stills and 24 spirit stills. In advance of the creation of the new distillery and visitor experience, archaeological excavations were undertaken by AOC Archaeology in 2014. The archaeologists found that people had been working in

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1122-481: The Highland region), Islay single malts , Lowland single malts , and Speyside single malts Independent bottlers buy casks of single malts and either bottle them immediately or store them for future use. Many of the independents began as stores and merchants who bought the whisky in bulk and bottled it for individual sales. Many distilleries do not bottle their whisky as a single malt, so independent bottlings are

1173-585: The Macallan received the Guinness World Record for the most expensive whisky sold at auction. In October 2019, a bottle of the Macallan1926 sold at a Sotheby’s auction for £1.5 million, making it the most expensive bottle of whisky sold. In November 2023, a bottle of the Macallan1926 sold at auction for £2.1 million, making it the most expensive bottle of whisky sold. In July 2019, the £140 million new distillery and visitor experience, on

1224-552: The Macallan was matured only in oak sherry casks brought to the distillery from Jerez de la Frontera , Spain. Beginning in 2004, the Macallan introduced a new main product, the Fine Oak series, with the whisky mellowed in bourbon oak casks as well as sherry ones. In 2018, the Fine Oak series was renamed as the Triple Cask Matured range. The distillery produces a number of expressions in its core Sherry Oak series,

1275-564: The Scotch whiskies on the market are defined as single malt. The other 90% is made by combining numerous whiskies, typically two-thirds grain whisky (non-barley) and one-third malt whisky, from several, or numerous, distilleries in Scotland. The resulting products are labeled "blended Scotch whisky", without the word "malt". Nearly 90% of Scotch whisky sold each year is a blended type. Nonetheless, in 2018, single malt Scotch made up nearly 28% of

1326-458: The Speaker designating an official single malt. In 2003, the Macallan started laboratory tests to determine if some antique whiskies purchased for their collection were forgeries, perhaps generated by a dealer with mafia ties. In 2004, it was revealed that laboratory testing had determined at least 11 bottles in its antique whisky collection were fakes. Although the Macallan had tested the paper of

1377-538: The U.S. in October 2019. By year-end 2017, however, exports totaled a record-breaking £4.37 billion, an increase of 8.9% over 2016. Of that total, single malt Scotch accounted for £1.17 billion in exports, a 14% increase over 2016. Exports in 2018 again increased, by 7.8% by value, and 3.6% in number of bottles, in spite of the duty imposed in 2017; exports grew to a record level, £4.7 billion. The US tariffs were not yet in place at that time, however. Of

1428-620: The act encouraged many distillers to apply for licensees. An Upper Drummin farmer in the Glen Livet valley, George Smith, working under landlord the Duke of Gordon , was the first person in Scotland to take out a licence for a distillery under the new law, founding what would become the Glenlivet Distillery in 1824, making single malt Scotch. Others followed and by 1830, some 232 distilleries had become licensed in Scotland. In

1479-433: The ancestry of subsequent Iron Age people in that area, but not in northern Britain. The "evidence suggests that, rather than a violent invasion or a single migratory event, the genetic structure of the population changed through sustained contacts between Britain and mainland Europe over several centuries, such as the movement of traders, intermarriage, and small scale movements of family groups". The authors describe this as

1530-560: The archaeological record. According to John T. Koch and others, the Celtic languages developed during the Late Bronze Age period in an intensely-trading-networked culture called the Atlantic Bronze Age , which included Britain, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal, but that stands in contrast to the more generally-accepted view that the Celtic languages developed earlier than that, with some cultural practices developing in

1581-543: The area in the Middle Bronze Age ( radiocarbon dates of 1681–1503 cal BC); had built a small settlement in the Late Bronze Age (radiocarbon dates of between 1050 and 800 BC); then a single ring-ditch roundhouse in the Middle Iron Age (radiocarbon dates of 171 BC - AD 51); another small settlement between the ninth to twelfth centuries AD with two post-ring roundhouses; and a 19th century quarry. There

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1632-573: The body. However, even though customs changed, barrows and burial mounds continued to be used during the Bronze Age, with smaller tombs often dug into the primary mounds. There has been debate amongst archaeologists as to whether the "Beaker people" were a race of people that migrated to Britain en masse from the continent or whether a Beaker cultural "package" of goods and behaviour, which eventually spread across most of Western Europe, diffused to Britain's existing inhabitants through trade across tribal boundaries. However one recent study (2017) suggests

1683-459: The bottle. Distillation of whisky has been performed in Scotland for centuries. The earliest written record of whisky production in Scotland from malted barley is an entry on the 1494 Exchequer Rolls, which reads "Eight bolls of malt to Friar John Cor, by order of the King, wherewith to make aqua vitae ." The expression 'single' means that of "separate, distinct, not combined or taken together" and

1734-479: The economy of the UK was estimated as £5.5 billion in 2018; the industry provided £3.8 billion in direct GVA (gross value added) to Scotland. Whisky tourism has also become significant and accounts for £68.3 million per year. One factor may have negatively affected sales, an extra 3.9% duty on spirits imposed by the UK in 2017. By 2020, another factor may affect exports: the 25% increase in tariffs imposed by

1785-470: The equivalent of multiple distillation steps. The new still dramatically increased production; the whisky was less intense and smoother, though less flavoursome. Quickly, merchants began blending the malt whisky with grain whisky distilled in the continuous stills, making the first blended Scotch whisky. The blended Scotch proved quite successful, less expensive to produce than malt, and exhibited more flavour and character than grain. The combination allowed

1836-408: The individual, rather on the ancestors as a collective. For example, in the Neolithic era, a large chambered cairn or long barrow was used to house the dead. The 'Early Bronze Age' saw people buried in individual barrows , also commonly known and marked on modern British Ordnance Survey maps as tumuli, or sometimes in cists covered with cairns . They were often buried with a beaker alongside

1887-411: The labels and were satisfied the whiskies were genuine, additional tests on the contents of some bottles revealed whisky believed to be only 10 years old. David Cox, director of fine and rare whiskies for the Macallan, said, "As a result of these tests from now on, no antique bottles from the antique collection held at the distillery will be made available for sale." In 2007, a bottle of 1926 the Macallan

1938-526: The most generally available being the 12-year-old, although the 18-year-old is widely distributed, alongside a 10-year-old cask strength expression at 58% ABV . Expensive 25, 30 and 40-year-old versions can also be found. In 2004, the Maccallan started to offer single malt expressions vatted with whisky matured in used casks other than ex-sherry casks as part of the Fine Oak range. Macallan also markets special scotches in duty-free shops at airports such as

1989-469: The new arrivals came from the area of modern Switzerland . The Beaker culture displayed different behaviours from the earlier Neolithic people and cultural change was significant. Many of the early henge sites seem to have been adopted by the newcomers. Furthermore, a fundamentally different approach to burying the dead began. In contrast to the Neolithic practice of communal burials, the Bronze Age society undergoes an apparent shift towards focusing on to

2040-607: The only way the single malt gets to market. The bottling process is generally the same, but independents generally do not have access to the distillery's water source, so another source is used to dilute the whisky. Additionally, independents are generally less concerned with maintaining a particular style, so more single year and single cask bottlings are produced. Established independent bottlers include Duncan Taylor , Murray McDavid , Douglas Laing & Co , and Blackadder . Bronze Age Britain Bronze Age Britain

2091-647: The second half of the 'Middle Bronze Age' (c. 1400–1100 BC) to exploit the wetter conditions. Cornwall was a major source of tin for much of western Europe and copper was extracted from sites such as the Great Orme mine in Northern Wales . Social groups appear to have been tribal, but growing complexity and hierarchies became apparent. There is evidence of a relatively large-scale disruption of cultural patterns (see Late Bronze Age collapse ), which some scholars think may indicate an invasion (or at least

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2142-473: The single malt producers to expand their operations, or to sell their products to other distillers who were making the blended products. After the 1850s, blended Scotch became far more popular than single malt whisky which eventually became a niche product for connoisseurs. By the Victorian era, distilleries had become commonplace across Scotland . A common feature in design originating from Charles C. Doig

2193-501: The total exports in 2018, single malt accounted for £1.3 billion. Whisky tourism has also become significant and accounts for £68.3 million per year; the percentage contribution to this industry by single malt Scotch distilleries, however, has not been released. The tourism has been a real plus to the economy, and of significant value especially in remote rural areas, according to Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs. "The Scottish Government

2244-418: The whisky was aged in two or three types of casks, but was not blended; hence, it still falls into the single malt category. The more common term for this type of whisky is "double wood" or "triple wood". Examples include The Balvenie 12 Years Old DoubleWood and Laphroaig Triple Wood. Many companies use malt whisky purchased from multiple distilleries, and these whiskies combined into " blended malt ". Until

2295-505: The world; roughly 14 million bottles are sold annually. In recent times, single malt has made up about 26% of the whisky exported to other countries; bulk spirits constituted about 5% and the balance has been blended whisky. The top importers of Scotch whisky are the US (21%), France (11%) and Singapore (6%). The Scotch Whisky Association estimated in 2019 that Scotland's whisky industry supported 40,000 jobs. The industry's contribution to

2346-402: The £4.7 billion of whisky exported from Scotland. For any Scotch whisky, whether malt or blended, the age statement on a bottle refers to the number of years the whisky spent maturing in casks . Very few whiskies are bottled from a single cask . The mixing of spirits with different amounts of ageing is allowed; the age statement of the resulting mix reflects the age of the youngest whisky in

2397-701: Was a population in Britain that for the first time had ancestry and skin and eye pigmentation similar to Britons today". Several regions of origin have been postulated for the Beaker culture , notably the Iberian Peninsula, the Netherlands and Central Europe. Part of the Beaker culture brought the skill of refining metal to Great Britain. At first, they made items from copper , but from around 2150 BC , smiths had discovered how to make bronze , which

2448-459: Was also some evidence (two stone tools) of people being in the area during the Mesolithic period. All of which indicates that people have been living and working on the site of the distillery for thousands of years. Retrieved from the Macallan official website. Single malt Scotch Another term is sometimes seen, "double malt Scotch" or "triple malt". This designation indicates that

2499-432: Was comparatively limited until the late 20th century. It was noted that in 1967, of 110 distilleries only 30 allowed the public to buy their whisky as a single malt. However, by the 1990s, changing demand had resulted in most distilleries offering a single malt to customers. A 2016 report stated that only 20% of the Scotch whisky was made by companies owned in Scotland. The owners of the majority of products are Diageo ,

2550-541: Was sold at a Christie's auction for $ 54,000, making it one of the most expensive bottles of whisky sold. In 2010, a bottle of the Macallan 64-year-old single malt whisky in a one-of-a-kind "Lalique: Cire Perdue" crystal decanter was sold for $ 460,000 at an auction at Sotheby's in New York City. All proceeds from the sale were donated to charity: water , an organization that helps provide access to clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. In 2012,

2601-404: Was that of a pagoda like roof that improved the efficiency of distilleries by drawing off peat smoke in the malting process. Even today many distilleries possess a pagoda style roof on at least one building even if no malting takes place and in some instances, new pagoda roofs are added for aesthetic purposes. However, while whisky production was widespread in Scotland, the number of single malts

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