Macallan is releasing a collection of six limited-edition collectible bottles of whisky this month in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the James Bond franchise, but to get your hands on one, you may need to wait until February. The Macallan James Bond 60th Anniversary drop is hitting retail shops across several other continents, but February 2023 is when you’ll first be able to buy it in the States.
This isn’t the first time Bond has partnered up with a spirit brand. The martini-centric ads of the Pierce Brosnan Bond have given way, however, and in recent years Bond has preferred his spirits dark. Scotch brands like Macallan have partnered with The Macallan Fine & Rare 1962, but even rum brands have borne the Bond logo in the last decade.
Macallan didn’t share information on why the delay is happening for U.S. retailers, but a long history of writing about scotch sales has us guessing that it has to do with the relatively slow approval process for U.S. imports. It’s commonly the case for rarer, limited-quantity scotch to appear late in the U.S. market (if at all).
The six bottles pictured in this collection all contain the same liquid, despite their differing appearances. The artwork from each release depicts iconic details of that era’s Bond films.
As for what’s inside the bottle, well, that’s unclear. This whisky is not age-stated, but tasting notes give us some clues.
Aroma includes citrus, sherbet, and coconut, which suggests it may be American sherry oak stock. The flavor notes shared by the brand include orange zest, fizzy sherbet, vanilla, coconut, and honey—all pointing to a younger spirit and not a total sherry bomb (all Macallan whiskeys are finished in casks that have held sherry wine at one time or another). It’s hard to speculate, but we can assume with some safety that this bottle’s contents wouldn’t be older than the standard 18-year-old scotch.
We’re not sure what Bond himself would think of this—he had an appreciation for older vintages of Macallan.
Bottled at 43.7 percent ABV, the Macallan James Bond 60th Anniversary Release is likely not the oldest stock on the market, but like other rare and limited-edition Macallans, it’s likely to have collectible value, mainly if you can complete the set.
While the Bond franchise has recently delivered some closure for Daniel Craig’s version of 007, the Macallan brand seems like an endless momentum generator. We’ve seen several years of record-breaking auctions for famous Macallan releases and some of the brand’s oldest liquid to date.
The only thing they’ve struggled to deliver on in recent years is an entry-level price point in limited releases. The Macallan Edition series, which concluded its six bottle run just a couple years ago, kept each initial price tag around $100. That collection now goes for roughly $10,000 online.
The 60th Anniversary bottles, meanwhile, will be priced at a breathe-through-your-nose price of $1,007. You must admire the cheekiness—even if you’ll have to admire it from afar until next year.
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