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 2019 and fourth edition of this limited release from Macallan was only available through an online ballot. This was unlike the previous releases which were available only at the distillery.
Folio 4 features an advertisement including a Strathspey composed by James Scott Skinner (1843-1927). The ad notes that Skinner, "The Strathspey King", was moved to music by the lilting flavour and melting resonances of a tumbler of his favourite malt whisky - The Macallan.
The ad, small but groundbreaking, was the first instance of musical notation displayed on a page of British newspaper, The Times, and quite possibly in the advertising of any whisky.
As with the previous Folio releases, the bottle is presented with a book inside an elegant book-shaped tin box.