Time travel, that elusive concept, became more tangible at the recent celebration of The Macallan’s bicentenary. To commemorate its 200th anniversary, the single malt powerhouse invited guests from across the region to experience The Heart of The Spirit in Singapore.
This immersive experience kicked off with a nostalgia-tinged boat ride at Marina Bay, wending through the Lion City’s iconic skyline. Along the way, a ghillie—a guide on a river expedition—narrated the rich history of The Macallan through the lens of Singapore; likening the city state to the single malt whisky that has become one of the foremost exponents of combining heritage, craftsmanship and futurism.
Just as the river Spey traverses through The Macallan’s 485-acre Easter Elchies estate, bringing with it the water that is elemental to the creation of its single malt whiskies, so too did the Singapore river served as a lifeline for its early inhabitants, who survived and thrived as they built the city into a global entrepot that connected East and West.
Upon debarkation at Clarke Quay, the guests, dressed to the time-traveller theme, followed the red carpet towards Warehouse B, which was transformed into an homage of The Macallan’s 200 years. “As we celebrate the monumental 200-year journey of The Macallan, The Heart of the Spirit experience in Singapore is not just a reflection of our storied past but also a bold stride into the future,” said Lai-Ching Kok, managing director, southeast asia and pacific, Edrington. “We chose to celebrate The Macallan’s milestone in Singapore to honour the dynamic fusion of tradition and modernity that both our brand and this vibrant city-state embody. Singapore provides the perfect backdrop for showcasing the timeless heritage and innovative craftsmanship that have defined The Macallan for two centuries. This celebration is not just about looking back at our illustrious history but also about embracing a future filled with new opportunities and shared moments of enjoyment.”
Through a red archway garlanded by foliage, guests arrived into a sensorial space that showcased the high points of The Macallan’s heritage, as illustrated by the poetry of Scottish poet Jenni Fagan and illustrations of Spanish visual artist Javi Aznárez. “It has been an extraordinary experience to immerse myself in the extensive archives of The Macallan and give a poetic voice to the story of the 200th anniversary of this iconic Scottish brand,” Fagan said. “From the beauty of Easter Elchies Estate to the intricacies of the whisky-making process and the lives of those who worked at The Macallan over two centuries—inspiration and intrigue often met with the best of science, history, and agriculture alongside a global backdrop.” As for Aznárez, he describes the challenge of illustrating and animating 200 years of whisky history as a real one—especially as the “immersive nature of the experience required many different elements to work together like clockwork”.
Thus, on the 200th birthday of The Macallan, the stories that were told at The Heart of the Spirit spoke of the pivotal moments across two centuries that enabled this single malt brand to attain its lofty position among the foremost Scottish whiskies, known around the world for its legacy of Scotch aged in ex-sherry casks and latterly in entertainment (Cirque du Soleil), luxury (Lalique and Bentley Motors), and pop culture (the recent James Bond flicks).
Humble Beginnings
It began in 1824, when teacher and farmer Alexander Reid founded The Macallan as a tenant upon the Easter Elchies estate. Here, the geography of Dalradian rocks dates back hundreds of millions of years, producing spring waters and fertile soils through natural filtration, as well as nurturing the barley fields. Reid installed the now-familiar ‘curiously small stills’, reflecting his decision to choose quality over quantity, with the smaller still size yielding a more flavourful spirit. Till this day, the modern-day distillery continues to utilise 24 of these unique-sized spirit stills.
At The Heart of the Spirit, the stories vacillate from past to present. We are told of Victorian gentleman Roderick Kemp, who describes the bodegas where sherry wine is aged as “the perfume of a love affair”. These sherry casks would go on to confer The Macallan with its distinctive flavours and rich amber-ruby hues that endure to the present day.
Kemp’s daughter, Janet Isabella Harbinson, fondly known as ‘Nettie’, would then burnish his legacy, demurring on offers to sell the distillery and, instead, with quiet heroism, protecting the community nourished by The Macallan and the employment it afforded. It would be Nettie who would put the spirit distilled in 1926 into wood, one that was bottled as a 60-year-old expression, and would go on to achieve the distinction of being the most valuable bottle of wine or spirit ever sold at auction (it hammered down for £2.2 million late last year).
The Spirit Of Time
Here at the experience, a continual cast of characters would be introduced at a viewing room, including its present-day whisky ambassadors such as Jeremy Lee. Lee walked guests through The Heart of the Spirit, enlivened by Aznárez’s depictions of The Macallan’s 200 years in full technicolour. At the main room, highlighted by a glorious bar, guests had a chance to appreciate two commemorative editions. The first, called Time:Space Mastery, proposes an expression of Scotch crafted from a combination of 14 exceptional cask types to achieve a single malt full of aromas, textures, and flavours.
As for the second limited release christened Time:Space, only 200 units of it will ever be released, to be obtained via allocation or ballot at a price of £200,000. What sets this apart from anything ever produced by The Macallan is its unique dual-chamber vessel construction. It includes the oldest whisky ever released by The Macallan—an 84-year-old single malt, first distilled in 1940 and contained in the outer chamber, while the central chamber houses a five-year-old spirit produced in 2018 at its new distillery.
“It was an absolute privilege to be able to reach back in time and select stock from the 1940s to honour and celebrate our 200-year anniversary,” said Kirsteen Campbell, master whisky maker, The Macallan. “As a Whisky Mastery Team, our roles are unique in the sense that we get to time travel—selecting whisky from the past crafted by our predecessors, while simultaneously laying down casks for future generations of whisky makers and consumers. To nose, taste and select whisky created over eight decades ago is an exceptionally rare occasion in the life of a whisky maker, and one that I will treasure.
“For the 2018 vintage, the prospect of selecting a younger cask created a lot of excitement in the sample room—it is an opportunity to give others an insight into The Macallan’s future,” Campbell adds. “This marked the first year of production in our new distillery, which is truly a significant moment to be cherished. Through a fusion of art and science, we have ensured the continuity of the character of our whisky.”
In all this, The Heart of the Spirit distilled one simple notion. The understanding of its cast of characters who have gone against the grain, backgrounded by pop culture and world events as the years marched on. And even as its single malt have quietly matured in the bucolic hills of Speyside, there was never a doubt that its past, present and future are entwined by the commitment of doing the right thing.
Photography: courtesy of The Macallan
