MACALLAN 1967- CATTLE, BARLEY AND POTATOES
For all the modern wonders of technology, an ancient truth remains at heart of The Macallan. Whisky making begins with barley. Without it, the single malt slumbering in oak casks stored across the Estate would never have come into being.
Livestock and arable farming have co-existed alongside the Distillery since it was founded. Potatoes planted in abundance during the Great War kept the local populace alive. Twenty-seven years later, following a second worldwide conflict, both the farm and the Distillery were crying out for modernisation. Prudence was necessary. With funds in short supply following the wartime shut-down, crops were favoured over livestock and the machinery of whisky distillation was upgraded. Farming soldiered on as best it could, elderly buildings notwithstanding, its fortunes fortunately never measured in monetary gain.
On the label of this bottle, photographed by Mary McCartney on the damp, dark rocks of Easter Elchies, a trio of farm animals take centre stage against a backdrop of ripening barley. The relationship between nature and whisky making is an ever-present motif in the history of The Macallan. Sir Peter Blake reintroduces us to the immediacy and majesty of farming. Shire horses have served their time, but Highland cattle and their Aberdeen Angus companions still roam the Estate.
The flavours in this 1967 bottling, selected by Sarah Burgess, are most accurately recorded using natural terms, from wood to fruit to spice, riches bestowed from time spent in European sherried oak.
Maintaining a careful balance between the natural environment and the demands of a modern, wider world is considered an essential duty of care for the generations yet to come.
