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The Macallan 55 Year Old In Lalique
$30,000
Easter Elchies, Craigellachie
AB38 9RX Scotland
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THE MACALLAN 55 Year Old in Lalique (Rare)

Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

A celebration of two great national traditions, The Macallan 55 Years Old in Lalique is one of the finest ever creative collaborations between Scotland and France. This limited edition release, offered on Whisky.com, represents an historic alliance of artistry and craftsmanship, spirit and style. The Masters of Spirit and Wood Partner with The Masters of Crystal to Introduce 420 Decanters – Only one hundred will be available in the USD - $20,000

New York and London, November 7, 2007 – Iconic luxury brands, The Macallan® and LALIQUE today unveiled The Macallan in LALIQUE Natural Colour decanter containing an exceptionally rare 55 years old single malt whisky. The Natural Colour decanter is the second in what will be a series of six based on The Macallan's Six Pillars and is testament to the quality and craftsmanship of both partners in this historic collaboration. One hundred of these decanters will be available in the United States in January of 2008.

The Macallan 55 Years Old single malt is cask strength (40.1% abv), and has remained undisturbed for over half a century at the Easter Elchies House – The Macallan's spiritual home in Speyside, Scotland - where it matured through the decades in a sherry oak cask. Dark rosewood in colour, the liquid has aromatic notes of exotic, sweet dried fruits with a hint of peat-smoke, while the finish is wonderfully soft, smooth and spicy with lingering touches of citrus.

Bob Dalgarno, The Macallan Master Whisky Maker, comments: "At The Macallan we insist on natural colour. It is the interaction of spirit and wood alone which delivers the rich diversity of colour evident throughout The Macallan range. We used the striking natural colour of The Macallan liquid as the inspiration for the design of this decanter, the second collaboration between The Macallan and Lalique."

The Natural Colour decanter has been designed by the legendary French crystal house LALIQUE, exclusively for The Macallan. The Macallan 55 Years Old in LALIQUE is a limited edition decanter with only 420 being produced, each individually numbered and available in selected boutiques in the USA, UK, Asia and Russia. Its delicate gradation of colour and artful curvature makes it a vessel worthy of holding such a rare and unique Scotch whisky.

"The first LALIQUE decanter, containing The Macallan 50 Years Old single malt, was launched in 2005 and proved a huge success," said Eric Maldonado, The Macallan U.S. brand manager at Rémy Cointreau USA, Inc. "Since then we have seen an increase in demand for our rarer whiskies, proof that we were moving in the right direction by extending our partnership with LALIQUE to produce a series of decanters containing the finest The Macallan single malt."

Guillaume Gauthereau, president and CEO LALIQUE North America explains: "We are delighted to be working with the world's finest single malt as it has given us the opportunity to design a series of decanters which reflect all the best attributes of our brand - creativity, heritage and craftsmanship. The Natural Colour decanter was created by our design team in Paris and is based on the classic Paquerettes tiara perfume bottle designed by Rene Lalique in 1910. It is a mix of masculine and feminine shapes and the stopper is made in amber coloured crystal, one of the most difficult colours for crystal makers to achieve."

Handcrafted at LALIQUE's factory in Wingen-sur-Moder, the Alsace region of northern France, each piece filters through the hands of up to 25 craftsmen, many of whom have attained the 'Meilleur ouvrier de France' – the Finest Craftsman of France Award. Each decanter bears the esteemed 'Lalique France' signature which symbolizes authenticity and over 100 years of creativity, heritage and craftsmanship and comes in a specially designed leather and silk presentation box, with a crystal stopper and a leather-bound collectors guide detailing the craftsmanship that has gone into producing this beautiful objet d'art.

Consumers who are interested in purchasing The Macallan 55 Years Old in Lalique should contact Whisky.com

Respected and admired by discerning whisky lovers and named 'best malt in the world*', The Macallan remains the single malt against which all others must be judged.

NOTES:

The Macallan 55 Years Old in Lalique - tasting notes:

COLOUR: Dark Rosewood
NOSE: Rich, polished oak with exotic, sweet dried fruits, citrus and a hint of peat-smoke.
PALATE: Spicy, with sun dried raisins and orange zest.
FINISH: Wonderfully soft, smooth and spicy, with lingering touches of citrus and peat-smoke.

The timeless reputation of The Macallan is founded upon Six Pillars:

The Spiritual Home
Easter Elchies House proudly watches over The Macallan distillery in Speyside, Scotland. Built in 1700, this Jacobean manor house is The Macallan's spiritual home.

Curiously Small Stills
The Macallan's curiously small and uniquely shaped copper stills help to concentrate the flavor of the 'new make' spirit.

The Finest Cut
The 'cut' is the amount of distilled spirit collected from the stills as 'new make' spirit. The Macallan takes one of the ?nest 'cuts' of any distillery in Scotland, typically just 16% goes forward to fill or our casks.

Exceptional Oak Casks
The Macallan's unfaltering obsession with selecting exceptional oak casks brings an unsurpassed, timeless quality to The Macallan.

Natural Colour
Natural colour is something The Macallan insists upon. It is the interaction of spirit and wood alone which delivers the rich variety of colour, aroma and taste evident through out the range.

Peerless Spirit
The Macallan remains the single malt against which all others must be judged. It is celebrated far and wide by experts and discerning drinkers as the world's most precious whisky.

About The Macallan – Masters of Spirit and Wood
The Macallan is the world's most precious whisky. Distilled on the Easter Elchies estate above the banks of the Spey River in the Scottish Highlands since 1824, The Macallan Single Highland Malt is produced without compromise to achieve the highest standard of quality and taste. The hallmarks of The Macallan are its natural colour (caramel is never used); flavors of citrus, dried fruits, cloves, wood and toffee; subtle sweetness and profound richness carry into the finish. The Macallan range of single malts in the U.S. includes: The Macallan Sherry Oak: 12 Years Old, 18 Years Old, 25 Years Old, 30 Years Old, Cask Strength; The Macallan Fine Oak: 10 Years Old, 15 Years, 17 Years, 21 Years Old, 30 Years Old; and Fine & Rare vintages.

About Rémy Cointreau USA, Inc.
Rémy Cointreau USA, Inc. is a private and wholly owned subsidiary of Rémy Cointreau, S.A. France. The company is the exclusive U.S. importer for a variety of premium spirits and wines, including Rémy Martin®, Cointreau®, Piper Heidsieck®, Charles Heidsieck®, Masi Agricola®, Vietti Wines®, Jacopo Biondi Santi Wines®, The Macallan®, The Famous Grouse®, Highland Park®, Tamdhu®, Mount Gay Rums®, Passoa®, and others. Please savor responsibly.

About LALIQUE – Masters of Crystal
In 1907, Rene Lalique acquired a passion for glass, reinventing the perfume bottle and developing opalescent glass. He decorated the Orient Express and the Normandy cruise ship as well as designing the fountains on the Rond Point des Champs Elysees. Having revolutionized the world of jewelry, he went on to become the master glassmaker of the Art Déco movement. His successors have definitively imposed crystal, while remaining faithful to the heritage of LALIQUE, carrying on Rene's skill, knowledge and style. LALIQUE continues to open boutiques around the world, launching new collections every year, including Limited Edition Collections and collaborations within art and design.