The Macallan Michael Dillon: The Macallan Estate Single Malt Scotch Whisky 40 Year Old · 1986 Vintage

In 1986, The Macallan 1926 reached the apogee of maturity with a complex and alluring character, slowly aged into perfection over six long decades in sherry seasoned oak casks from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. This would become the world's most valuable wine or spirit sold at auction.

As maturation of The Macallan 1926 came to an end in 1986, another journey was just beginning. Single sherry seasoned European oak cask no. 9925 was filled and laid down to mature in a cool and quiet corner of The Macallan Estate, to be unveiled in 2026, one hundred years after The Macallan 1926 was first distilled.

Dillon's landscape painting captures the natural beauty of Easter Elchies Estate, home to The Macallan Distillery in Speyside, Scotland. Since The Macallan Romantica Collection was distilled, the most extraordinary modernisation has taken place in the form of a new Distillery sensitively nestled into the panorama with nature undisturbed.

From a leafy green foreground where young oak trees spring up alongside birch trees and thistles, the gaze is drawn along a grassy path to The Macallan Distillery, an architectural masterpiece almost imperceptible under the landscape created by its grass covered, undulating roof. The Distillery is a symbol of The Macallan's growth and modernisation since 1986, yet is only revealed in Dillon's work by the reflection from the tall glass windows, suggesting something magical is concealed beneath.