The Reach is an Astoundingly Old, Rare, and Expensive Whiskey from The Macallan

Rare whisky doesn’t seem that rare anymore, with dozens of distillers promising aged, premium bottles.

The Macallan aims to up the bar, with the release of their ultra rare, 81-year-old collection called The Reach.  Drawn from a single cask that has been maturing since 1941, this exceptionally old and select Scotch with flavors of toffee, ginger, nutmeg, charred pineapple, pecan, and woodsmoke.

Upping the ante further, the whisky comes in a hand blown glass decanter, held aloft by an elegant bronze sculpture of three hands, representing the distillery workers from the 1940s, the Chairman from that period, and the Master Whisky Maker.

The extraordinary efforts put into this collection make it worth far more than just the liquid gold in the bottle, with the sculpture alone being an impressive work of art. The Macallan have commissioned a film about The Reach as well as a song by the Scottish rock group Mogwai.

The whole package arrives in a custom wooden cabinet, made from a single elm tree that stood on the property in 1940.

This elegance, storytelling, and history doesn’t come cheap. Only 288 bottles will be made, each one fetching $125,000.

“Extraordinarily rare and completely unique, The Reach single malt whisky represents a fascinating point in history for The Macallan Distillery, as it survived the 1940s era of dwindling coal supplies, workforce depletion and continuing war efforts. 

Held aloft by the three hands, this limited-edition whisky is housed in mouth-blown glass, cradled by three bronze hands created by Scottish sculptor Saskia Robinson. Each hand represents those who played a part in this whisky and The Macallan’s legacy from 1940 to the modern day and beyond.”

“The cabinet which houses The Reach uses wood from a fallen elm tree which is thought to have stood on The Macallan Estate in 1940, at the time the whisky was distilled.

While five doors slide back on a pedestal base, the wood’s pigmentation highlights the growth rings that tell of the tree’s great age — a captivating record of how the past becomes the present.”