- About Estate:
The Macallan is a single malt Scotch whisky, produced at Macallan Distillery near Easter Elchies House, at Craigellachie in the Speyside region. Originally, The Macallan was only matured in oak sherry casks brought to the distillery from Jerez, Spain. Beginning in 2004 Macallan introduced a new main product, the Fine Oak series, with the whisky mellowed in bourbon oak casks as well as sherry ones - http://www.themacallan.com/macallanStory/
‘Macallan’ is most likely derived from two Gaelic words, ‘MAGH’ meaning a fertile piece of ground and ‘ELLAN’, meaning ‘of St Fillan’, an Irish born monk who travelled widely in Scotland spreading Christianity during the eighth century.
For centuries, farmers in the area of Easter Elchies House have been distilling whisky in the winter from barley they have grown on their own land. At the nearby ford across the river Spey, cattlemen (‘drovers’) taking their cattle to the markets in the south would stop to rest and take refreshment before crossing the river. Their refreshment would have included whisky distilled on the local farms.
After 1814, travelers would have crossed the river Spey via the famous bridge, designed by the great Thomas Telford, downstream from The Macallan.
The common thread running through the history of The Macallan is the obsession with quality, which was established from the start by the founder of the distillery, Alexander Reid. In 1824, Reid, a local farmer, acquired a licence to distil whisky legally at Easter Elchies and The Macallan was born.
Throughout the nineteenth century, the owners of The Macallan were all local people, with a deep attachment to the countryside,
MELINDA KENDALL : HER LIFE AND WRITINGS 