The Macallan Sienna - 1824 Series

We were fans of the Macallan brand of scotch. It was awesome. However, they've now opted to re-brand their whole line; gone are the age designations. Maybe you can get the other Macallans in other parts of the world, but here in Nova Scotia, we can only get this new line: the "1824 Series" of scotch. This new line, which mentions no years and are separated only by some made up names: Gold, Amber, Sienna, Ruby and Rare Cask.

Sienna is the 3rd most expensive, coming in at $199.99 for a 750ml bottle and 43% alcohol.

This scotch is pretty fine, but we're disappointed that it's not the old Macallan. So our opinion is sort of tainted by this disappointment. We want to say it's good, but its a step down from what it was.

The sienna is definitely rich and even with the first smell the flavours are strong and full. There's a beautiful smell of chocolate and strangely the leather scent does not disturb. Why would someone want to drink something that smells like leather? That's a good question, but sometimes there's that in scotch... Pine needles and overripe fruit are some other examples that aren't in this one, but would seem like a weird scent to mention in a good way. But with scotch it seems fine. Yeah, it's a liquid that has a bit of a leathery smell but that's just ok. These smells mix with the sweetness of plum and vanilla.

The palate bring out the oak and a nice creaminess. Vanilla again appears with orange and nice warm feel, sort of like the hotness of ginger, without being really ginger in taste.

The finish is sweet and smooth with a little fudge. The oak flavour continues well past any other.

Pretty expensive and doesn't hold up to what Macallan used to be. So even though its good, its not what it could be and could be so much better.