Macallan Archival Series Folio 6
"Macallan ever keen to keep his Publicity Advisers on their toes..."
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.
Folio 6 features the character of The Chairman. He is dressed as a Scotsman dancing the Highland fling over a pen and brush which were the symbols of the distilleries publicity advisers Holmes and Salaman. The Macallan Chairman Allan Shiach would occasionally suggest ideas to the team and the two departments would often clash. Shiach's addition of The Chairman character was a polite reminder to his publicity advisers that he would always have the final say.
As with the previous Folio releases, the bottle is presented with a book inside an elegant book-shaped tin box. Originally released in winter 2020.