24 Oct I #RaiseTheMacallan At The Empress

I had the pleasure of attending the first ever Macallan event that came to Victoria last night for their #RaiseTheMacallan campaign. This is a touring showcase of their 1824 Series of single malts that are, frankly, just a cut above the rest. Tickets were the right price at $0 dollars and, of course, it easily sold out within hours. I showed up to The Empress with my good friend Kyle to find a large crowd already gathered.

The evening started off in the Palm Court with a beautiful selection of the fine single malts we would be tasting that evening. My palette was cleansed happily with a delicious cocktail made with Macallan and sadly, a fruit juice I cannot remember… either way it was a absolutely delicious way to start the evening. The Fairmont also provided a delicious mix of hors d’oeuvres that went around and got all of us gathered in the tightly packed room satisfied.
 

The center of the room was decorated with with the various bottles of the 1824 Series; the only one of which I’d had going into this tasting was The Gold. Any Whiskey fan knows that this is the brand of choice for James Bond and I’d like to think this is what he’d keep cases of for everyday drinking. Either way, I was excited to get my hands on some drams and start tasting the rest of this series.

After about 30 minutes of mingling in the Palms Court, we were ushered into the conference room where there were dozens of tables with four glasses in a flight waiting at each seat. The room smelled absolutely heavenly as I briskly walked between the tables looking for a pair of seats to quickly get comfortable in. It took all my will power not to start dipping in, however, I couldn’t help but start sniffing the notes coming from the four drams in front of me.

Finally brand ambassador Dan Volway took the podium and, before giving us a taste of the goods, gave us a taste of the Macallan brand and the people that work so hard to produce this special elixir. Finally the time came to #RaiseTheMacallan and enjoy the beauty of its color and aromas before letting that first drop hit my tongue.

The samplings including the Gold, Sienna, Amber and Ruby single malts and, if I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Ruby hands down. The color was 100% natural and if I didn’t know that, I would have otherwise guessed it had some help to reach that depth. Everything from the aroma down to the long lasting taste won me over instantly and it was truly a treat.

It was a great night and I’d like to thank Dan for getting out to our Island, to the Fairmont Empress staff who always put on a great event and to my buddy Kyle for joining me. You can also see more pictures from my night on my Instagram feed.