At the high end of Macallan’s Quest Collection (originally released for travel retail) sat the Macallan Enigma, first released in 2017 and later also available in regular stores (in fact, I’m not sure whether there were new batches or whether they were old bottles).
This whisky was matured exclusively in first fill European oak hogsheads and butts, all seasoned by the same partner in Jerez: Tonelería Tevasa.
Macallan Enigma (44,9%, OB +/- 2017)
Nose: plenty of caramelized hazelnuts and meaty notes. Candy sugar and maple syrup. After a while there are a few brighter notes, like raspberry ganache and cinnamon. Dates and chocolate. A bit too meaty for my taste, and the hints of fresh oak shavings are also quite loud.
Mouth: similar impressions. A lot of dates, chocolate coated raisins and dark caramel, mixed with a bunch of oak spices: nutmeg, clove and pepper. Faint rubbery notes. Gingerbread. Quite dark and slightly bloated, the European oak has taken over but it’s lacking a fresher, fruity register.
Finish: long, on chocolates with a coffee filling, salted caramel and oak.
Enigma is a slightly bloated sherry bomb, mostly expressing the European oak casks. The balance is quite good, but somehow this profile doesn’t really work for me. In that respect it reminds me of the early batches of GlenDronach 15 Years Revival. Still available from The Whisky Exchange for instance.