

You could say then that the name ‘Macallan’ combines the earth with the heavens, the rustic with the divine. According to Undiscovered Scotland St Fillian roamed Scotland in the 8th century, establishing churches in Galloway and Islay before moving to a cave in Pittenweem to live as a hermit. ‘-allan’ may have been ‘-ellan’ which could be a derivative of ‘Fillian’ as St Fillian was an important monk in Scottish history. The ‘mac’ part may come from the Gaelic ‘Magh’ – this part has associations with land that is particularly arable and good for crops. It was in fact at the beginning of this deviant decade that The Macallan Single Malt brand was (re)introduced.īut what does The Macallan mean? Well the name was probably around before the distillery and can be broken down, by translating it from Scots Gaelic, into two parts. Kemp Macallan-Glenlivet and even bore the slightly awkward name Elchies until 1980.

Though The Macallan is a name that has become ubiquitous with good Scotch, it has not carried this same name across the years since 1824. Fertile Land and Irish Monks A stained glass window depicting St Columba, who also came over from Ireland In fact, they even say that George Smith had to carry two loaded pistols on him for the rest of his life.

Thus their fellow distillers were pretty angry.
#MACALLAN WHISKEY IRELAND LICENSE#
If some distillers bought into the act and fully committed to a license then this made a repeal impossible. Other distilling farmers were not happy with the Excise Act and were hoping it could be repealed. The men would have risked not only their popularity with this move but also their lives. Though not as fast off the mark as George Smith of Glenlivet, Mr Reid was pretty smart in obtaining his license, also obtaining it in 1824. Thus it came to be that Alexander Reid obtained for his farm a distilling license. Shortly afterwards the other distilling farmers of the Highlands felt they had to follow suit. In 1823 the Excise Act was passed and in 1824 it was George Smith of the Glenlivet Distillery who first gave in and bought a distilling license. Although at times these spirits were perhaps of rather questionable quality. The Farmers of these tumbling lands were distilling quite freely, creating exciting spirits for themselves and their community.
#MACALLAN WHISKEY IRELAND FULL#
As many of us know, in the years previous to 1824 the hills, valleys, nooks and crannies around Aberdeenshire were full of steaming stills. Let us begin our tale in the northerly wilds of Speyside, in the years previous to 1824. So we thought we would take the opportunity to do a little research into the history of The Macallan and pass this information on to all of the other fans. Yet, though we can tell you a lot about the maturation style and various designs, we perhaps don’t know as much about the history of The Macallan. Many of us have fallen in love with The Macallan whisky for its sleek design, rich but subtle flavours, and all-round great taste.
