MacLean Whiskies

Can you please recommend four Scotch whiskies that you have been directly involved with.

Just as I never award scores to whiskies, at least not publicly, I am generally reluctant to make specific recommendations. Knowing how much care and effort goes into making ‘the finest liquor in the world’, and how many factors contribute to one’s enjoyment of it [see my last article], I think it invidious to name my preferences and rank one above another. But this request from an American magazine was phrased in such a way as to allow me to recall four whiskies with which I have been involved without seeming immodest.

The first is an Auchroisk 34YO (a single hogshead yielding 248 bottles @44.5%Vol) and bottled for The MacLean Foundation a charity founded by my sons devoted to raising money to provide clean water for communities which do not have this essential. The cask was donated by Diageo, selected by me and Dr. Nick Morgan. It is the oldest expression of Auchroisk that I know of, and an outstanding example of the make.

The initial impression is both sweet and savoury - perhaps pan seared foie gras with a madeira sauce, soon developing into crème brulee, now backed by thick creamy notes. The base notes are of sandalwood sawdust – enhanced by a drop of water, then joined by a hint of marzipan walnut chocolates. Bottles still available at the time of writing, from Royal Mile Whiskies. (See )

My second choice is a blended Scotch which bears my name: Maclean’s Nose. It comes from the independent bottler, Adelphi, of which I was a non-executive director and ‘Chief Nose’ when the company was founded in 1992. I also became ‘Honourary Nose’ when Adelphi founded Ardnamurchan Distillery in 2014.

Within sight of the distillery is a headland which plunges into Loch Sunart known as ‘Maclean’s Nose’. The idea of linking the two noses came from Alex Bruce, managing director of both companies – and husband to my co-director, Vikki Bruce!

The whisky is 70% malt; 40% of this is from Ardnamurchan, with a high proportion matured in sherry-seasoned casks. Overall, the character is distinctly West Coast – maritime, lightly peated. It has done phenomenally well - currently available in over forty markets - and was chosen by followers of the international On-Line Whisky Awards as ‘Best Blended Scotch 2025’.

Number three is another offering from Adelphi, Adelphi Private Stock, a premium blended Scotch.

The Adelphi Distillery in Glasgow ceased operation in 1907 but the name was revived by the great-grandson of the last owner of the distillery, Jamie Walker, in 1992 as an independent bottler. I was a non-executive director of the company, responsible for helping Jamie select casks.

In the early days, he had borrowed money to buy stock from his grandmother. She was fond of blended Scotch and leant him the cask on condition that we create a house blend for her. The result was Private Stock ‘Loyal Old Mature’ a premium blend made for us by Iain Macleod & Co. I describe it on the label as “remarkable smooth and honey sweet, with hints of the sea, chilli pepper, walnuts and distant peat fires”. It is my daily tipple.

Decadent Drams

‘At least 12YO’ Blended Scotch @53% ABV

(from Decadent Drinks Ltd, 295 bottles only)

I include this recent classy blend because I am depicted in the label alongside the whisky’s creator, my good friend Angus McRaild, Whiskymaker at the soon-to-open Kythe Distillery. It’s a cracker. Angus writes on the back label:

“We took some very old North of Scotland grain as a base and married it together in a refill sherry hogshead with an assortment of peated and unpeated malt whiskies for over a year. The precise mix is a closely guarded secret (known not even to us), but it took Angus nearly fifteen minutes to cobble it together in his kitchen using the time-honoured blender’s instruments of a jug, teaspoon and an excel spreadsheet. Please enjoy this haphazardly muddled potion with strategic spontaneity and cautious revelry”.

I am delighted to be associated with it.