What do Speyside distilleries Balmenach, Cardhu, Glenlivet, Fettercairn, Miltonduff and The Macallan have in common? All have bicentenaries this year, sharing a rich history that has shaped the way we enjoy Scotch today. Look further afield and 2024 is also a significant year for two other, younger producers that have stamped their own identity on the world whisky scene. Japan’s Nikka was founded 90 years ago by a pioneering whisky-maker who learned his trade in Scotch distilleries. Meanwhile, Amrut launched the first Indian single malt in Scotland just 20 years ago. Take a trip back in time to discover more.
The Macallan
Peter Ranscombe
The Macallan Distillery’s modern exterior
Few single-malt Scotch whiskies dominate the international stage like The Macallan, the Speyside distillery that has become the darling of global auction rooms. Yet the luxury brand’s origins are somewhat humbler.
The Macallan traces its roots to Elchies, a farm distillery that gained its production licence in 1824, the year after the Excise Act legalised whisky making in the Highlands. As with most other distilleries marking their bicentenaries this year, there had probably been illicit distilling during the 1700s on licensee Alexander Reid’s Easter Elchies estate. Those humble origins still influence The Macallan’s style today. Space was tight in farm distilleries, so Elchies had small stills. While other distilleries bought bigger stills when they moved into bigger buildings, The Macallan continued to use small ones, leading to less contact between the vapour and the cleansing copper and therefore producing a heavier, oilier spirit.
That richer spirit is paired with The Macallan’s other defining characteristic: Sherry flavours. The brand’s use of initially ex-Sherry transport casks and latterly Sherry-seasoned bespoke casks began with wine merchant Roderick Kemp, who bought Elchies distillery in 1892 and renamed it Macallan-Glenlivet, a common Victorian marketing gimmick, with the suffix dropped in 1980.
In the early 1980s, Spanish law changed, requiring Sherry to be bottled before export, rather than being shipped in casks. Enterprising cooperages and bodegas began seasoning wooden staves with Sherry to supply casks to the Scotch whisky industry.
Sherry is such an important factor in The Macallan’s style that its parent company Edrington – which also makes Highland Park, The Glenrothes and blended Scotch giant Famous Grouse – has gone to remarkable lengths to secure its supplies. It was among the first to commission seasoned casks, sourcing both European and American oak, and eventually bought its Spanish cooperage partner Vasyma, and a 50% stake in Sherry maker Estévez.
Alongside Kemp, the other important character in The Macallan’s 200-year story is his great-grandson Allan Shiach, who is also the screenwriter and producer behind films including Regeneration, Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, and the stage musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert. When the 1970s energy crisis caused a slowdown in Scotch sales, distilleries shifted their focus from mass-market blends to higher-margin single malts. The Macallan’s richer style had always made it a popular ingredient in blends, but in 1984, under Shiach’s watch, it released its first official single malt bottling. It was also Shiach who helped lay the foundations for The Macallan’s marketing prowess, which has ranged from advertisements next to The Times crossword to partnerships with artist Sir Peter Blake and the James Bond film franchise.
While Glenfiddich and The Glenlivet are rightly saluted for their early work in popularising single malts around the world, it’s The Macallan that has elevated Scotch whisky into the stratosphere of luxury labels, blazing a trail for other brands to enjoy success at auction and among collectors. Not bad for a brand that began in a farm shed.
Nikka
Julie Sheppard
Nikka’s Yoichi Distillery on Hokkaido
Celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, Nikka Whisky – and indeed the entire Japanese whisky category – owes its existence to one man: Masataka Taketsuru. The company’s founder was born in 1894 and was destined to join the family business of sake brewing before he encountered Western-style spirits while studying fermentation techniques at university.
Landing a job with Osaka producer Settsu Shuzo, in 1918 he was sent to Scotland to learn about Scotch whisky – the first person from Japan to do so. Chemistry courses at the University of Glasgow were followed by apprenticeships with distilleries in Elgin (Speyside), Bo’ness and Campbeltown. The result was two notebooks, handwritten, with meticulous diagrams. These ‘Taketsuru Notes’ became Japan’s first manual for whisky production.
In the midst of the economic turmoil that followed World War I, Settsu Shuzo abandoned its plans to produce whisky. But Shinjiro Torii of Kotobukiya (later renamed Suntory) had similar designs. In 1923, he hired Taketsuru to oversee the building of Yamazaki Distillery on the outskirts of Kyoto. As distillery manager, Taketsuru produced the first Japanese whisky – Suntory Shirofuda – in 1929.
Taketsuru had returned to Japan with more than his notebooks, however… In Glasgow, he fell in love with local lass Rita Cowan; the pair married in 1920. Rita supported Taketsuru’s dream of opening his own distillery, which he achieved in 1934. It was located in Yoichi on Japan’s northern island, Hokkaido – chosen for its resemblance to Campbeltown.
Initially making apple products as Dai Nippon Kaju – ‘Great Japanese Juice Company’ – Taketsuru was also busy designing the first pot still to be manufactured in Japan. It was installed at Yoichi Distillery in 1936 and Nikka Whisky (short for Nippon Kaju, which later became the company name) was released in 1940.
Subsequent releases included Super Nikka, created as a tribute to Rita, who died in 1961. Later that decade, Taketsuru founded a second distillery, Miyagikyo, near Sendai on Japan’s main island Honshu. The more southerly location lent itself to the production of lighter, more elegant whiskies to complement the bold Yoichi malts.
Following Taketsuru’s death in 1979, Nikka continued to evolve, with releases such as Nikka from the Barrel, a blend of single malts from Yoichi and Miyagiko, plus Coffey still grain and malt whiskies. It was bought by Asashi in 2001 and is now the second-largest whisky producer in Japan behind Suntory.
With his remarkable series of pioneering ‘firsts’ Taketsuru created the blueprint for Japanese whisky, paving the way for its global recognition today. Little wonder the founder of Nikka has been dubbed ‘the father of Japanese whisky’.
Amrut
Dave Broom
Amrut distillery in Bangalore
It seemed an unlikely setting for the global launch of a new whisky. Not some swanky hotel or restaurant, but Glasgow’s Cafe India. Amrut Distilleries, however, had a plan. In 2004, the single malt category was beginning to grow rapidly, but was dominated by Scotch, with Japan only recently having established a foothold. Amrut was the first Indian single malt.
Glasgow was chosen not only because of the quality of its Indian cuisine, but for the news value: what better way to raise a storm than launching an Indian single malt in Scotland?
It also sent a message back home. Amrut felt the local market wasn’t ready for a locally made single malt. Indian whisky was mostly a blend of indigenous (predominantly molasses-based) spirit with imported bulk Scotch sold cheaply. It made more sense to first build a reputation on the international market. It wasn’t until 2010 that Amrut single malt was launched domestically. Thanks to the work of its indefatigable international sales director Ashok Chokalingam, Amrut’s reputation began to spread.
Founded by JN Radhakrishna Jagdale (aka JNR) in 1948, Amrut Laboratories quickly established itself as a supplier of spirits. By the 1960s, it was making rum; brandy followed in the decade after. In 1976, JNR unexpectedly passed away and was succeeded by his son Neelakanta Rao Jagdale, who spearheaded a shift to premium; single malt production started in 2001. The advantages provided by sub-tropical maturation, which sees up to 14% evaporate a year, meant that those earliest distillates were sufficiently mature to be released three years later.
Chokalingam, who took over as head of distilling in 2019, describes the Amrut approach as being ‘enticing and entertaining’. It led to whiskies such as Two Continents, where casks shipped from India finish maturation in Scotland. Spectrum is aged in casks that are made up of staves from four different cask types, while Naarangi is aged in an ex-oloroso Sherry cask seasoned with wine and orange peel.
An expansion in 2018 means the distillery can now produce more than a million litres of pure alcohol a year. Any novelty that surrounded the project in its early days has now gone; Amrut is a serious player. Any local reluctance has also disappeared. In 2023, sales of Indian made single malts outstripped those of global brands in India. The game has changed.
Six anniversary whiskies to try
The Macallan 12 Year Old Double Cask Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Classic vanilla and honey on the nose, with curls of cigar smoke and spicy nutmeg and cloves. The vanilla and honey are joined on the palate by richer cream and toffee, along with dried fruits and a chewy texture. Alcohol 40%
The Macallan Harmony Collection Green Meadow Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Developed in partnership with designers Stella and Mary McCartney, Green Meadow delivers the cut-grass aromas its name promises. What’s even more impressive though is the lemon drizzle cake element on the tongue, combining citrus, cream and maltier biscuit. Alc 40.2%
Nikka from the Barrel
In its signature rectangular bottle, Nikka from the Barrel embodies the Nikka philosophy, blending both single malt and grain spirits from the Miyagikyo and Yoichi distilleries, and aged in an array of different casks, including bourbon and Sherry. Deep, complex and very rich, with notes of red apple, cinnamon, butterscotch and vanilla, overlaid with woody spice; add some water to open it up. Alc 51.4%
Nikka Yoichi Single Malt
A blend of single malts from different years, meaning there’s no age stated on the label. Elegant peat smokiness is combined with fruit notes – orange, lemon, melon, pear – spices and a hint of chocolate. Rich, smooth and harmonious, with some saltiness on the lingering smoky finish that’s emblematic of the Yoichi Distillery’s direct-coal-fired stills. Alc 45%
Amrut Fusion
Clean and nutty with warming smoke, biscotti, then petrichor and new sandals. All the elements are integrated on the palate, along with shiso leaf, cookie, melting butter and light smoke. Alc 50%
Amrut Triparva
This soft, fruity whisky is triple-distilled. Notes of hothouse, orchid, cassia bark and hessian, then a burst of tropical fruits with a balancing green note and sweet biscuity spices. Alc 50%
