Alexander Reid - A legend named "red"
The history of The Macallan Estate begins in 1824. Alexander Reid, a skilled barley farmer and teacher, transformed Easter Elchies Castle and its surrounding landscape to plant barley. With the surplus barley from the winter farming months, Alexander realized that time would play an important role in transforming Speyside barley into a priceless drink that would last through history. This event also laid the first foundation for the birth and development of the brand.
Alexander Reid between the barley estate and Easter Elchies house as drawn by Javi Aznárez in the collection's premiere film
It could be said that without Alexander Reid’s pioneering vision, The Macallan Estate would not exist today. And coincidentally, the Reid part of his name, in Scottish, means not only “red” but also a pioneer.
Roderick Kemp - Making a difference with oak barrels bearing the “Red” mark
In 1892, Roderick Kemp, a single malt connoisseur, bought The Macallan Estate. Recognizing the estate's potential, Roderick expanded and modernized the distillery. He also renamed it The Macallan-Glenlivet (the Glenlivet suffix was later dropped in 1980).
Roderick Kemp discovers the difference of whisky matured in sherry-seasoned oak casks
To distill the most perfect single malt, Roderick Kemp pays special attention to the origin of the oak casks. Roderick Kemp, with the innovation of creating oak sherry casks, launched the “Choice Old Whisky” collection. The success of the collection made the name of The Macallan estate more famous than ever. To mark the birth as well as to express the difference in value of sherry casks compared to ordinary ones, Roderick Kemp engraved a red seal on them.
Allan Shiach - Honoring the value of time with red ribbons
More than 80 years after the release of “Choice Old Whisky”, the brand’s new chairman, Allan Shiach, has taken the sherry-matured single malt to new heights.
With a vision to honour tradition and heritage without losing sight of the future, he challenged conventional distillation methods to create the oldest single malt of all time. The result was a 40 and 50 year old single malt release, opening a new chapter for the development of The Macallan Estate.
The moment Allan Shiach decided to release a 40-50 year old single malt
To honor the legacy inherited from his two predecessors, Allan tied a red ribbon on the bottle, marking a half-century journey of a single malt matured inside sherry-seasoned oak casks.
More information
Alexander Reid, Roderick Kemp and Allan Shiach appear together in a film introducing the Red Collection in collaboration with renowned Spanish artist and illustrator Javi Aznarez. Three converging inspirations of the “red” mark have created a legacy that is deeply rooted in the times.
