THE RECORD / STUDY 05
A farm licence on the Easter Elchies estate.
The still in Study 05 is the smallest in the series. It stands in a stillhouse opened in 2018 under a timber roof of 380,000 parts, on an estate above the Spey that has held a distilling licence since 1824. This is the record behind it: the farmer who took out the licence, the Elgin merchant who bought the distillery in 1892 and whose family held it for a century, the sherry casks from Jerez, the small stills the company calls curious, and the bottles from one 1926 cask that keep resetting the auction record.
Alexander Reid and the 1824 licence
The Macallan dates itself from 1824, when Alexander Reid, a farmer and teacher, took out a licence to distil on the Easter Elchies estate above Craigellachie. The licence followed the Excise Act of 1823, which cut duty and the minimum size of a legal still and brought a rush of applications across the Highlands. Trade references list the distillery in its early years as Elchies.
The estate is the company's "Spiritual Home". Easter Elchies House, a Jacobean manor built for Captain John Grant in 1700, appears on every label and now serves the distillery as an education and hospitality centre. The company puts the estate at 485 acres with a mile and a half of the River Spey. Reid was followed by James Davidson and, from 1868, by James Stuart, who took the lease and rebuilt the plant.
A Study in Red · Macallan (Whiskypedia) · History of the Macallan distillery · The six pillars · The Six Pillars · The Macallan Distillers Ltd (International Directory of Company Histories, vol. 63) · The History of Macallan: Everything You Need to KnowRoderick Kemp, the trust and Macallan-Glenlivet
In 1892 Stuart sold the distillery to Roderick Kemp, an Elgin wine merchant who had earlier owned a share of Talisker. Kemp renamed the business R. Kemp Macallan-Glenlivet and, by the company's account, set its standards: Spanish sherry casks and a red label for his "Choice Old" whisky. He died in 1909 and the Roderick Kemp Trust was formed to keep the distillery in the family, which it did for most of a century.
The company says cask 263 was filled in 1926 under Janet Harbinson, whose great-nephew Allan Shiach later chaired the company. A new stillhouse in 1965 doubled the stills to twelve. The company floated in 1968, became Macallan-Glenlivet in 1970, and added six stills in 1974 and three in 1975 to reach twenty-one. The older stillhouse closed in 1970 and, per one visitor site, restarted in 2008.
Macallan (Whiskypedia) · The Macallan Distillers Ltd (International Directory of Company Histories, vol. 63) · The History of Macallan: Everything You Need to Know · A Study in Red · A Legacy in the Making: The Macallan 1926 60 Years Old · The Macallan · Distillery in Focus: MacallanSherry oak, Jerez and Allan Shiach
The Macallan sold to blenders for most of its life. In 1980, under chairman Allan Shiach, who is also a screenwriter, it launched a branded single malt and released three vintages dated 1938, 1940 and 1950 with a red ribbon on the label. A retailer's brand page repeats the company line that casks give "up to 80% of the flavour" and all of the colour.
The casks come from Jerez de la Frontera, where coopers make European and American oak casks to the company's specification and season them with sherry. Since 2023 the company has bought half of Grupo Estévez, owner of Valdespino, the Vasyma cooperage, a stake in an Ohio sawmill and, in 2024, half of Tevasa Forestal Group, whose cooperage has supplied it for over forty years. Fine Oak, with ex-bourbon casks, followed in 2004.
A Study in Red · The Macallan Distillers Ltd (International Directory of Company Histories, vol. 63) · The six pillars · The Six Pillars · The Macallan announces new Sherry cask partnership · Macallan (Whiskypedia) · The History of Macallan: Everything You Need to KnowHighland Distillers, 1996, and Edrington
The family's grip loosened in stages. Suntory bought 25 per cent in 1986. A 1990 share exchange between Highland Distillers and Rémy Cointreau put 26 per cent of Macallan in French hands; Highland bought it back in January 1996. By then, per the International Directory of Company Histories, the Kemp family held about 20 per cent.
In July 1996 Highland and Suntory pooled their holdings in HS Distillers, which owned 51 per cent and bid for the rest. That ended the Kemp era. In 1999 Edrington and William Grant & Sons bought Highland Distillers for £601 million through the 1887 Company, with Edrington holding 70 per cent. Edrington belongs to the Robertson Trust, a charity formed by the three Robertson sisters who inherited the family whisky businesses in 1961.
The Macallan Distillers Ltd (International Directory of Company Histories, vol. 63) · The History of Macallan: Everything You Need to Know · Edrington (Whiskypedia) · Macallan (Whiskypedia)The curiously small stills
The Macallan calls its spirit stills "curiously small", one of its Six Pillars. The company says they are "some of the smallest within the scotch whisky industry", short and squat so the vapour travels a short distance and heavier compounds carry over. Scotchwhisky.com gives a spirit still charge of 3,900 litres, a wash still of 12,950, and lyne arms "so acutely angled". Company copy on a 2011 decanter puts the height under four metres, with no datum.
Forsyths of Rothes, three miles away, has made the stills since the 1950s. Older company copy says "as little as 16%" of each spirit run is kept as the "Finest Cut"; an independent guide says 15 per cent, and the current Six Pillars page omits the cut. The £10 note claim comes from reference sites, not the bank.
Distinction in Distillation · The Six Pillars · Macallan (Whiskypedia) · The Macallan in Lalique, The Six Pillars Collection: a history · The six pillars · The Macallan Distillery · Why and how stills influence whisky · Whisky stills: does shape matter?The 2018 distillery
Rather than extend the old plant, Edrington built a new one. The company says the plan was announced in 2012 and building began in December 2014, with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners as architect, Robertson of Elgin as contractor, Arup as engineer and Wiehag on the roof. RSHP puts the cost at £140 million including process plant. The roof is a timber gridshell of about 380,000 components under meadow grass, with five domes, three over stillhouses.
Forsyths made 36 stills, twelve wash and twenty-four spirit, which the company says copy the shape, size and lyne arm orientation of the old ones. They stand in three circular pods of twelve, each wash still feeding two spirit stills. The old site was switched off in October 2017 and the doors opened on 2 June 2018. Capacity is 15 million litres a year.
A New Distillery and Visitor Experience, a New Vision for the Future · The Macallan Distillery and Visitor Experience · New Macallan distillery unveiled by Edrington in Speyside · The Macallan Distillery and Visitor Experience · See inside the new Macallan distillery! · Inside Macallan's ground-breaking distillery · Distinction in Distillation · Macallan (Whiskypedia)Cask 263 and the auction record
One sherry cask filled in 1926 has become the most expensive whisky in the world. The company says it was bottled in 1986 under Allan Shiach as forty bottles of a 60 year old: twelve labelled by Sir Peter Blake in 1989, twelve by Valerio Adami in 1993, at most fourteen as Fine and Rare, and one hand-painted by Michael Dillon in 1999.
The records belong to the auction houses. Christie's sold the Dillon bottle for £1.2 million in November 2018. Sotheby's London sold a Fine and Rare bottle on 24 October 2019 for £1,452,000 against an estimate of £350,000 to £450,000, and on 18 November 2023 an Adami bottle for £2,187,500, which the company calls the highest auction price for any bottle of wine or spirit.
A Legacy in the Making: The Macallan 1926 60 Years Old · The Macallan Fine & Rare 60 Year Old 42.6 abv 1926 · Sotheby's Ultimate Whisky Collection broke records galore · The Macallan Valerio Adami 60 Year Old: revisiting the most expensive whisky ever sold · Macallan 1926 breaks auction record at £1.5mWhat Speyside means in law
The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 define Single Malt Scotch Whisky as Scotch whisky distilled in one or more batches at a single distillery, from water and malted barley without any other cereal, in pot stills. Scotch whisky must be distilled in Scotland at less than 94.8 per cent alcohol, matured in Scotland in oak casks of no more than 700 litres, and aged for at least three years.
Regulation 10 protects five names: the regions Highland, Lowland and Speyside and the localities Campbeltown and Islay. Speyside is defined by council wards, among them Speyside Glenlivet in Moray, which takes in Craigellachie; a whisky may carry the name only if it was distilled there. Speyside sits inside the Highland region, so The Macallan may lawfully be called either.
The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, regulation 3 (definitions) · The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, regulation 10 (localities and regions)Made at Easter Elchies
- Sherry Oak 12 Years Old
- The core of the Sherry Oak Collection, matured in European oak seasoned with sherry in Jerez de la Frontera. The collection runs to 18, 25 and 30 year old annual releases. Timeless Collections
- Double Cask 12 Years Old
- Matured in a mix of European and American oak, both sherry seasoned. The company lists 12, 15, 18 and 30 year old versions. Timeless Collections
- Colour Collection
- A travel-retail range of five whiskies from 12 to 30 years old, presented as a celebration of natural colour and sherry seasoning. Timeless Collections
- The Macallan in Lalique, Six Pillars Collection
- Six crystal decanters released between 2005 and 2016, one for each pillar. The 2011 decanter for the Curiously Small Stills held a 60 year old filled in November 1950; 400 were made at US$20,000. The Macallan and Lalique unveil Curiously Small Stills decanter
- The Red Collection
- The company's oldest permanent range, launched with a story of three figures: Alexander Reid, Roderick Kemp and Allan Shiach. A Study in Red
- The Macallan 1926
- Forty bottles from cask 263, drawn in 1986 at 60 years old. Three of them hold, in turn, the world auction record for a bottle of wine or spirit. A Legacy in the Making: The Macallan 1926 60 Years Old
Questions people ask
Why are Macallan stills so small?
The company says the short, squat shape gives the vapour a short journey and maximum copper contact, so that heavy, oily compounds reach the condenser and the spirit is dense enough to stand long maturation in sherry casks. It also says keeping stills of this size "comes at a cost", meaning they are less efficient than larger ones. A former distillery manager put it more plainly: the aim is a fruity, heavy, waxy new make.
Distinction in Distillation · Why and how stills influence whisky · When it comes to great whisky, the size of your still mattersHow big are the Macallan spirit stills?
The trade reference scotchwhisky.com gives a spirit still charge of 3,900 litres and a wash still charge of 12,950 litres. Company copy on a 2011 decanter says the spirit stills are under four metres high. No current company page gives a figure, and no source says where the height is measured from.
Macallan (Whiskypedia) · The Macallan in Lalique, The Six Pillars Collection: a historyHow many stills does Macallan have?
Thirty-six in the 2018 distillery: twelve wash and twenty-four spirit, arranged in three circular pods of twelve, with each wash still feeding two spirit stills. The old distillery had twenty-one across two stillhouses and was switched off in October 2017.
Macallan (Whiskypedia) · See inside the new Macallan distillery! · Inside Macallan's ground-breaking distillery · The MacallanWho made the Macallan stills?
Forsyths of Rothes, about three miles from the distillery. The company says Forsyths has made its stills since the 1950s and describes the 36 stills for the 2018 distillery as copies of the old ones in shape, size and lyne arm orientation. Its creative director said Forsyths mapped the old stills "to make this death-mask".
Distinction in Distillation · A New Distillery and Visitor Experience, a New Vision for the Future · See inside the new Macallan distillery! · New Macallan distillery unveiled by Edrington in SpeysideWho owns The Macallan?
Edrington, a Glasgow company owned by the Robertson Trust, a charity. Highland Distillers bought The Macallan from the Kemp family and other shareholders in 1996 through a joint venture with Suntory, and Edrington and William Grant & Sons bought Highland Distillers for £601 million in 1999.
The Macallan Distillers Ltd (International Directory of Company Histories, vol. 63) · Edrington (Whiskypedia)What is the most expensive Macallan ever sold?
A bottle of The Macallan 1926 with a Valerio Adami label, sold by Sotheby's in London on 18 November 2023 for £2,187,500. The same cask produced the Fine and Rare bottle that sold at Sotheby's for £1,452,000 in October 2019 and the Michael Dillon bottle sold by Christie's for £1.2 million in 2018.
A Legacy in the Making: The Macallan 1926 60 Years Old · The Macallan Valerio Adami 60 Year Old: revisiting the most expensive whisky ever sold · Sotheby's Ultimate Whisky Collection broke records galoreSources are linked under each section. Company statements are attributed as such. Where sources disagree, the page says which figure it uses and why. Corrections: hello@stillbound.ai.