Legendary whisky distillery The Macallan has announced two limited edition single malt whiskies created entirely around the idea of pairing whisky with coffee. The Macallan Harmony Collection’s two newest bottles—”Inspired by Intense Arabica” and “Smooth Arabica”—are a pair of never-before-seen Macallan whiskies designed with the help of an international team of coffee experts from around the world.
Of course, there’s a good story behind these bottlings. It began with Macallan Whisky Maker Steven Bremner bringing world renowned coffee experts to the Macallan Estate for an immersive master class. The cast included Ethiopian coffee grower Kenean Asefa Dukamo, Scottish coffee roaster Lisa Lawson, American barista Andrea Allen, UK-based coffee artist Dhan Tamang, and coffee historian Professor Jonathan Morris.
It was from this meeting that these two bottles were eventually created—and from an appreciation that coffee and whisky actually share many traits: Both beverages require careful preparation of their main ingredients; toasty, dark flavors are common in both great coffee and great whisky; and at least insofar as Irish coffee is concerned, they can get along very nicely in the same glass.
Macallan has plenty of stock to play with for projects like this, and even though the distillery is largely known for its European sherry finishes, its use of American oak barrels seasoned with sherry adds brightness and sweetness to a carefully crafted dram. Bremner selected both American and European oak casks for these whiskies.
“I sought out intense notes in The Macallan’s traditional sherry-seasoned European oak casks that would offer the rich and satisfying elements of coffee—while the influence of sherry-seasoned American oak casks adds sweeter and softer vanilla notes for a balanced and rounded experience,” Bremner explains. “Exploring the world of coffee with our masters in the industry was both an education and an inspiration,” he adds, in an official statement. “There are many parallels between the approach to creating incomparable whisky and coffee. Each requires unique skills and craftsmanship to achieve depth and complexity of taste and both worlds aim to deliver an extraordinary consumption experience.”
Macallan has done it—not just once, but twice with this newest release.
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Intense Arabica is said to have a crema color, with aromas of tiramisu, cappuccino, gingerbread and raisins, and hints of sweet oak and vanilla. On the palate, dark espresso and several of those aromatic notes mix with blackberry and nuts, before a long, balanced, and sweet dark roast finish.
Smooth Arabica, meanwhile, has a toffee color, and notes from the distillery describe aromas of hazelnut, dark cherry, vanilla, oak, and ground coffee. On the palate, it has flavors of an Americano, with hints of raisins, cherries, soft spices, and vanilla. The finish is sweet and creamy, with an upfront hit of coffee bean.
These are the third and fourth bottles in Macallan’s Harmony Collection, and the first to address coffee. The original release, Macallan Harmony Collection Rich Cacao, was inspired in a similar manner by the world of chocolate. It was followed earlier this year by “Fine Cacao.”
Everything is connected to the world of coffee for these two latest whisky releases, right down to the box they come in. The packaging for these bottles includes a presentation box made from repurposed coffee bean husks by paper expert Michele Posocco from Italian paper mill Favini.
Intense Arabica is released at 44 percent ABV, while Smooth Arabica is bottled at a lower ABV of 40 percent. For around $185 (depending on taxes and other variables), both whiskies are certainly in today’s “affordable” category.
However, tracking them down may require a bit of extra work. Intense Arabica enters the U.S. market in November. As for Smooth Arabica, it’s available exclusively in some duty free shops and airport Macallan Boutiques next month.
So, yes, you may need both types of a “red eye” to get your hands on these coffee-inspired single malts. We do suspect though that with the right barista, you’ll end up with one hell of a boilermaker.
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