When it comes to the most popular whisky for collectors and investors, The Macallan from Speyside, Scotland, is the place to be. The Macallan dominates the whisky secondary market: nearly half of the historic high prices of rare whisky go to The Macallan.
 
Founded in 1824 and nestled on the River Spey, The Macallan Distillery was one of the first licensed distilleries in Scotland and is reputed to be the finest single malt whisky in the world. Authoritative wine critic Michael Jackson summed up The Macallan's status as Best-known Heavyweight in "Malt Whisky Companion", and in the 2012 007 film series "Skyfall", James Bond sipped on The Macallan's 1963 single malt whisky.
 
Over the past 100 years, The Macallan has used the smallest stills in the entire Speyside region, with a height of less than four metres to increase the area of contact between the liquor and the copper wall, while slowing down the distillation rate and giving enough time for the 'copper to talk' to the new spirit, resulting in a new spirit that is thick and layered.
 
In the world of whisky, it's widely accepted that casks shape 70% of a whisky's personality, and the key to The Macallan's success lies in the cask. The Macallan's parent company, The Eddington Group, signed contracts with cooperages in Jerez, Tivasa and other places in Spain as early as the 80s to obtain stable, high-quality sherry cask resources, so today The Macallan still has the ability to use the sought-after and expensive sherry cask as the main cask. These oak barrels, which have been soaked in sherry, give the wine a deep amber colour and a rich, sweet flavour.
 
For the average whisky aficionado, vintage-specific, vintage versions of The Macallan are unattainable, while regular versions of The Macallan Classic Sherry, Double Cask and Triple Cask are the destination for the average player.
 
The Macallan Classic Sherry Cask range includes five different ages of 40, 30, 25, 18 and 12 years old, all aged in Spanish Jerez sherry casks, with 12 and 18 years old more readily available on the market. The Macallan Classic Sherry Cask 12 Year Old is a deep golden colour with aromas of ginger and dried fruit, sweet notes of sherry, and a smooth palate with toffee, dried fruit and sherry. Among the 12-year-old single malt whisky, The Macallan Classic Sherry Cask Whisky is worth a try, suitable for beginners, on The Macallan Tmall flagship store, the 12-year-old sherry cask is only about 550 yuan, and the 18-year-old whisky is priced at about 2500 yuan.
 
The Macallan Double Cask is a single malt whisky made by blending the two original spirits after the distillation is aged in Spanish and American sherry casks respectively. The Double Cask series includes two whiskies, Gold and 12 Year Old, of which Cangold is a non-vintage spirit that was once a member of the 1824 Color Series, and then the Color Series was discontinued, and Gold switched to the Double Cask Series as a regular whisky. Neither vintage nor proof of age, this double-barrel gold is inexpensive, and you can buy a single malt whisky from The Macallan in the early $300s, which can be said to be an excellent entry point.
 
As the name suggests, the Single Malt Whisky of the Three-Cask Collection is matured in three oak casks: Spanish Sherry, American Sherry and American Bourbon, which are then blended by the blender's masterful blending techniques. This series includes three whiskies of 12 years, 15 years and 18 years, and the prices are relatively reasonable, even the highest three barrels of 18 years generally cost around 1,300 yuan. The three-barrel series is not available in the domestic flagship store, if you are interested, you can seek a small agent to buy.