The Macallan in Lalique Legacy Collection, including the rarest of The Maacllan’s Lalique limited editions of 50 year old, 55 year old, 57 year old, 60 year old and 65 year old; 6 fine and rare miniatures of 1937, 1938 and 1939 vintages; 12 Lalique Macallan glasses and the bespoke natural ebony cabinet, has recently achieved exceptional auction price of HK$7.8 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for charity auction (with the starting price of HK$2 million). It also broke the record of the last charity auction price of HK$4 million of The Macallan M 6L whisky at Sotheby’s Hong Kong. I really think that whisky is a better investment than stock market when you look at this figure. I’m very lucky to have a chance to meet with David Cox, the fine and rare whisky director, again before his retirement to introduce the 6 rare whiskies to us. He mentioned that The Macallan whiskies 70-80 years ago were all peated whiskies. It was till 1951-52 onwards that they started to make unpeated whiskies. Wow! I really want to try the peated vintage! It must be very interesting and different from the ones now.
Whisky is definitely not a luxurious hobby and there are lots of great whiskies that are affordable. I recently tried the new Glenmorangie Bacalta (8th private edition) and met Brendan McCarron, the Head of Maturing Whisky Stocks, who introduced Bacalta to us. It is finished in Madeira Cask, with sweet and honey aromas, including nutty, honey, orange flower, marmalade, milky fudge, toffee, mineral and a hint of eucalyptus note. It’s really easy to drink and there is no way that ladies won’t like it.
I followed my dad to sip Chivas Regal when I was a little girl. When we all like to drink single malt nowadays, I’ve never thought of trying the single malt whiskies that are actually the ingredients of Chivas Regal blended whisky when I’m a grown up now! I’ve tried two major ingredients of Chivas, including Longmorn 16 year old and Scapa Glensa single malts (launched this year in Hong Kong). Longmorn 16yo has been aged in 3 different casks (American oak cask, ex-Sherry cask and traditional oak cask). It is complex with vanilla, orange peel, citrus, toasty, crème brulee and licorice notes. It is sweet and rounded in the beginning with a kick in the finish. As for Scapa, it is located in a small island in the far north of Scotland with only 5 permanent staffs working there. It’s really a boutique distillery. I really like Scapa Glensa, which is aged in a peated cask with a lightly peated note. The aromas are very elegant with almond, vanilla, pear, apple, lightly peated and a hint of salty notes (from the influence of the ocean), which shows the characters of the island. It’s really interesting to experience the different whisky styles that are actually the ingredients of Chivas!
早陣子係香港蘇富比拍賣會拍賣的The Macallan in Lailque Legacy Collection ，以底價港幣2百萬起跳，包括6支限量Lalique水晶版的The Macallan 50年、55年、57年、60年及65年，再加3款6支迷你版1937年、1938年及1939年威士忌，以及12隻Lalique水晶杯及酒櫃，成功地以最終價港幣780萬拍賣了，作為慈善用途。上次蘇富比拍賣The Macallan M 6L威士忌已創下港幣490萬佳績，今次更上一層樓，真的令我覺得識買就梗係買威士忌好過買股票！我有幸在The Macallan 罕有威士忌總監David Cox退休前聽他講解這6支罕有威士忌，原來70-80年前的The Macallan是泥煤味威士忌，直到1951-52年開始先進展成沒有泥煤味的威士忌。有機會的話，我真的很想試試是什麼味道，一定是很有趣，跟我認識的The Macallan很不同！
其實威士忌絕對不是堅離地的玩意，亦有很多平易近人的自用選擇。近日跟首次來港的Glenmorangie陳年威士忌總監Brendan McCarron會面，試了剛推出市場的Bacalta第8款珍藏系列。Bacalta是以Madeira桶作最後陳年，聞落味道香甜，帶果仁、蜜糖、橙花、糖果、牛奶朱古力、拖肥、礦物及少少草本味道，我覺得女生都會喜歡這款特別版，因為真的很易入口。
我細細個就跟我爸爸飲芝華士威士忌（Chivas Regal），當大家現在都飮單一麥芽威士忌之時，我真的沒有想過大了可以有機會將芝華士拆開來飮！試了芝華士其中的兩大原材料Longmorn 16年及Scapa Glensa的單一麥芽威士忌，今年才在港推出，前者入過三款不同酒桶（美國桶、雪梨桶及傳統橡木桶），味道有層次而帶雲尼拿、橙皮、香橙、橡木、法式燉蛋及甘草等，甜美背後帶點後勁 。而後者Scapa 更有趣，在蘇格蘭的最北部的小島，全個酒廠只有5名長期員工，真是精品酒廠。我覺得Scapa Glensa好有趣，以泥煤桶陳釀，有淡淡的煙燻味，十分優雅，香味突出，帶杏仁、雲尼拿、香梨、蘋果、煙燻及少少海洋帶來的咸味，很有小島風格。估不到把它部份原酒拆開來喝會有這不同的體驗！
