It may be hard to imagine today, but for much of the 20th century, Macallan was primarily a constituent malt in blends. It was not until the 1980s downturn in the market that the distillery decided to focus on its single malt brand. Fortuitously, this coincided with the crest of a wave of enthusiasm for the high quality releases that the distillery had licensed to Campbell, Hope & King and Gordon & MacPhail in the 1960s and 1970s. These remain some of the most collectible on the market. While global single malt sales volume is still lead by Speyside neighbours, Glenfiddich and Glenlivet, Macallan is easily the most sought after. So much so in fact, that they had to open a brand new distillery in 2018, a subterranean architectural masterpiece within the Easter Elchies estate, boasting 36 copper pot stills.
The theme of the Folio 3 is Macallan advertising campaigns from the 1980's and 1990's, and the presentation includes a book containing the best of these. The illustration on the box is from an advert used in a Victorian era edition of Punch magazine, and is intended to capture the notion that whisky is best produced in cold weather, a remark that Macallan claim was made on their very own estate at Easter Elchies.
The 2018 edition of this limited release from Macallan, this was only available from the distillery and was the third in the series.
As with the previous Folio releases, the bottle is presented in an elegant book-shaped tin box.