Macallan – 1861 Replica (70cl, 42.7%)

Macallan 1861 Replica is a single malt bottled in 2002 at 42.7%, in a 70cl bottle. It is the second release in Macallan's limited Replica series, made to recreate the taste and look of an original 1861 bottling. Whisky maker Bob Dalgarno and a team of experts assessed samples from around 1,500 casks and tested more than 40 compositions before settling on a vatting of 28 sherry butts. The bottle was copied by Stolzle Flaconnage, down to the air bubbles and irregularities in the glass, and sealed by hand. There were 17,000 bottles. It is described as sherry-led, with malt, light smoke, citrus and caramel.