Review by: dustbunna
Distillery: Various.
Bottler: Adelphi.
Region: Scotland (blend).
ABV: 46%.
Age: NAS but components between 4 and 6 years old. Distilled in 2016-2018. Bottled in 2023.
Cask type: Bourbon barrels, bourbon and sherry hogsheads.
Price: $35 USD.
Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 1 month, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.
Nose: sooty peat smoke, dried apples, malt, orange and lemon peels, a bit of fried Parmesan rind, a touch of papery, industrial funkiness in the background.
Palate: medium body ~ more apples and lemons, icing sugar, dead leaves, grain begins to poke through with vanilla and marshmallow, a touch metallic.
Finish: medium length ~ ash, more malt and dead leaves, a little bitterness, moss, more vanilla, campfire soot.
Conclusion: I almost forgot to photograph this bottle since it went so quickly, half of it vanished over one party-filled weekend where it was widely shared and enjoyed. This is extremely drinkable and shareable, particularly at its price point.
According to the QR code, this batch was 65% 4-year-old West Highland malt (Ardnamurchan, in about a 2:1 bourbon:sherry ratio), 5% 6-year-old Campbeltown (allegedly Glen Scotia, in bourbon barrels), and 30% 5-year-old Lowland grain (allegedly North British, in bourbon hogsheads). At first I felt the Ardnamurchan very clearly drove this blend, which was excellent news for an Ardna-stan like myself— the citrus, apples, malt and sooty smoke all feel like a common signature. My feeling going all the way through this bottle is that it stays pretty strong until the last lap of the race…where the edges begin to fray. It’s so well integrated at first that the grain showing through at the end, going sweeter and funkier, feels a bit disappointing.
Even with those flaws, for the money I think this is a great pickup and a reminder that grain doesn’t always have to drive the profile of a blend. In some ways, Maclean’s Nose builds on what I liked a few years ago about Teacher’s, but here there’s a little more ABV, a larger percentage of characterful and lightly peated malt, and a parcel of sherry hoggies to add some dimension to the profile. All of those are major improvements that make for a solid, fun, old-school-feeling blend.
Final Score: 82.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 
I must be an outlier with this one. I was distinctly underwhelmed. When you can buy a litre of Grant’s Distillery edition for much the same price, or a standard size bottle of Murray McDavid, I can’t understand why anyone would choose the Maclean’s.
LikeLike