Every whisky lover’s dream event rolled into Sydney when The Macallan hosted their Toast the Macallan series. The ‘world’s most luxurious whisky’ joined with award-winning restaurant Biota for a magnificent evening. Guests got to enjoy whisky cocktails, a three-course dinner, and a whisky tasting.
The Scottish brand has been making whisky since 1824, and are one of the best-known (and -loved) distilleries worldwide. They pulled out all the stops for their event.
The reason for the celebration? The Australian launch of The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old.
The Roslyn Packer Theatre played hostess for the evening, which began with guests mingling over canapes in the foyer. Cocktails on offer were the Fine Oak 12 Copa (The Macallan Fine Oak 12 Years Old, Oloroso Sherry, Tonic and lemon thyme) and my favourite, the Double Cask 12 Old Fashioned (made with The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old, brown sugar, Angostura and orange bitters). Surprisingly for an Old Fashioned, it was eminently sippable rather than too bold.
While the resident photographer tried (and failed) to get us to do a cute animated GIF of us cheersing, my friends Christina from Sydney Event Blogger and Raf from Travel and Lifestyle nibbled on slabs of charcoal on which were pear and sheep’s milk blue with whipped roe. The endives — aka witlof — with goat’s cheese were also a hit.
Toast the Macallan dinner at the Roslyn Packer Theatre, Walsh Bay © Salty Dingo 2017
Soon it was time to enter the cavernous dining hall. Long tables, set up with whisky flights before each chair, stretched endlessly before us. Paradise!
The Macallan flew the global Brand Ambassador, Sietse Offringa, from the Netherlands to guide us. We learned about the history of The Macallan as we dined on our entrees of smoked kingfish loin; corn cooked over coals; and citrus and wild fennel salad. The Macallan Fine Oak 12 Years Old, a lighter-bodied whisky, paired magnificently.
Biota’s chef James Viles talked us through each course. For the main (glazed beef rib, chestnut crème and and rappe stem), he described how he brought along raw chestnuts for us to compare to the cooked ones, and mentioned his team gathered the wild mushrooms. The star of this course was the night’s feature: The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old whisky
Sietse talked us through the Double Cask and what makes it special. In a nutshell: it’s made with whisky from both American and French Oak. As we ate our desserts of honey crème, toasted rye and ice-cream, we were fortunate to try The Macallan Rare Cask. Best of all? When Sietse saw some guests had rushed through their tastings, he ordered another round for all!
Those lucky to attend any of the three sessions (one for media and two for the public) walked out with one of the best parting gifts possible: a bottle of The Macallan 12 Years Old Double Cask. The hardest part is now deciding whether to save it — or open and savour it.
Either way, The Macallan deserves a big toast in Gaelic of Sláinte Mhath!
– Theresa
Co-founder of The Plus Ones, Theresa dreams of someday
Purchase The Macallan 12 Years Old Double Cask (which retails at approximately $100-$120 a bottle) at fine bottle shops Australia-wide. More info: www.themacallan.com.
