New York is the second bottle release in the Distil Your World series from The Macallan . The point of this new whisky is to capture the spirit of New York City, but how does one actually do that in liquid form? Well, a bit of imagination and creative license from the whisky makers is involved, and fortunately for The Macallan, the distillery has a decade-long relationship with famed Michelin-starred Spanish chefs the Roca Brothers.
Joan Roca and Macallan whisky maker Polly Logan traveled to New York City to fill all of their sensory receptacles with the smells, flavors and visions of this iconic city. They met with jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, street artist Lady Pink and clothing designer Zero Waste Daniel, to soak up the flavor of New York City. Logan has said she was inspired by street foods like “sweet candy, waffles, peanut brittle, chocolate and pecans.
Logan then selected six casks to assemble this whisky, both European and American sherry-seasoned oak , based on the specific notes that inspired her and Roca. The color, a dark copper, is described as “city sunrise.” On the nose, there is indeed some apple, which was an obvious note to go for, along with a burst of citrus.
You’ll have to have some very deep pockets in order to sample the whisky for yourself, something that is enticing to well-heeled whisky collectors but ranges from annoying to infuriating for the average whisky drinker. There’s no point in arguing about whether the whisky is worth any particular price, because it’s all subjective and circular—the product is limited, the consumer covets, the product becomes more limited and expensive, the consumer covets harder, repeat.