This brand new macallan Aurora whisky is an exciting Taiwanese exclusive release from Scotland’s most famous distillery. The release has been surrounded by a lot of hype, and with good reason. It is the latest addition to the hugely popular Quest Collection and has air of top quality whisky before the liquid has even passed your lips. It’s inspired by the dawning of a new day on the Macallan Estate, when the sun rises over the stunning distillery, making the surrounding fields of barley glow a beautiful golden amber colour. The similarly coloured whisky highlights the importance of sherry-seasoned oak in the creation of Macallan expressions and features a marriage of four different cask types: European and American sherry-seasoned oak casks and hogsheads, combined with American oak bourbon casks. The precious sherry cask oak was grown in Jerez in southern Spain and the forests in the north before being dried for four years, made into wooden barrels and then sedated for two years before being filled with Sherry. This process is carried out to strict regulations set by Macallan’s Master of Wood and it results in supreme quality casks that have dramatic effects on the distillery’s outstanding spirit. The nose of this beautiful single malt is where the American oak influences are most apparent. Citrus fruits, polished oak, vanilla and dried fruits are accompanied by hints of ginger and cinnamon from the sherry seasoning. Then comes more on sherry on the palate, with warming dark chocolate, sweet dried fruits and subtle cardamom. The finish is incredibly smooth with dried fruits and more citrus. This is one of those drams that dances on your palate, revealing more and more as you sip, and it’s a dance you’ll remember for a lifetime. This is a 1 litre bottle.