Production notes

Barley : from which all Macallan is made.

Current annual production of 10 million litres of pure alcohol per year .
For this we need :
-31,000 tons of two row, spring barley harvested off the fields. Allow approx 12% loss for
straw/drying etc, (though this will vary harvest to harvest), then another 12% loss during the
malting process. This means that we need some 24,000 tons of malt (malted barley) delivered
to the distillery each year to satisfy current production levels. One ton of malt will yield around
405 litres of alcohol, though yields may vary according to harvest quality.

-We currently use about 20% Minstrel barley and 80% Concerto barley at the Macallan, though
percentages will vary according to harvests. Minstrel was grown exclusively for The Macallan,
both on the home farm at the Macallan estate and by 16 farmers contracted to grow Minstrel
for The Macallan in Scotland and the north of England. From Spring 2015, Minstrel is being
replaced by “Momentum” barley. Momentum will be grown exclusively for The Macallan. As
with Golden Promise and Minstrel before, Momentum will contribute to the rich, oily character
of The Macallan new make spirit. Concerto is grown widely in Scotland for scotch whisky
malting barley.

-On the Macallan estate, from 2015 we will sow some 90 acres of Momentum barley. This
should give us in the region of 198 tons of barley giving us approx. 150 tonnes of malt, or
0.07% of our current annual requirements.
The barley grain
Malting (1) : getting the barley ready
- The barley used for making The Macallan is all malted by Simpsons Malt, based at Berwick-
on-Tweed.

- The objective of malting the barley is to modify the internal cell structure of the barley to
achieve the following : i) maximise enzyme content for later conversion of starch to
fermentable sugars at the distillery, ii) make the conversion of starch to sugar easier by
degrading the cell walls within the barley grain, iii) achieve this and lose as little starch as
possible in the process.

- The barley is first soaked in water in stainless steel vessels for up to two days to start it
growing. This called steeping. The water/barley mix is roused at intervals by blowing
through low pressure air. The water is drained off at intervals to allow sufficient oxygen to
the barley grain and to remove carbon dioxide.

- After removing the barley from the steeps, it is allowed to germinate for four to six days.
Humidified air and regular turning of the grain ensure even germination and stops “matting”
of the roots and shoots. Hormones are produced which stimulate enzyme production. These
enzymes break down the cell walls and the protein in the grain, and partially break down the
starch. On completion of this stage it is called “green malt”.
 Malting 2

- The final part of the malting process is called “kilning”, where the green malt is dried to
prevent further growth of the barley and to ensure, as far as possible, preservation of the
enzymes and of the modified starch for the next production stages at the distillery. This
process takes between one and two days.

- The humidified air is replaced by heated air from the kiln burners to reduce the moisture
content from 45% to between 4% and 5%.

- On completion of the malting process at Simpson’s Malt, The Macallan will expect delivery of
malted barley at the distillery which will satisfy the following conditions:

i) Moisture less than 5% to preserve enzyme levels

ii) Sufficient levels of particular enzymes which will break down starch to fermentable sugars
iii) Malt which is easy to process through milling and mashing at the distillery
iv) A predicted yield of new make spirit per ton of malt, based on the amount of soluble
extract from the grain and how much of that soluble extract can be fermented by yeast.
Milling : crushing the malt to a “grist”

20 lorries, with 28 tons of malt per lorry, deliver 560 tons of malt to the Macallan distillery
from Simpsons Malt each week.

The malt is delivered to the Macallan’s “Porteus” mill for crushing into “grist”.

The Macallan’s mill’s rollers are set at 2.5mm on the top rollers and 1.7mm on the bottom
rollers to crush the barley grains into 25% husk (important to help drain the mash tun), 65%
grits and 10% flour. This will give a fine grind to the flour, the optimum for processing the
grist in the two Macallan mash tuns. These settings are continually reviewed and indeed
changed to achieve an optimal grind for processing in the mash tuns, e.g. when we change
variety or crop year.
Mashing: producing the soluble sugars
The Macallan has two “semi-lauter” mash tuns, in which the grist is mixed with hot water. The
mash tun in Production House No.1 holds 8.2 tons of grist and mashes 380 tons of malt per
week. The mash tun in Production House No.2 holds 6.7 tons of grist and mashes 175 tons
per week,

-The action of mixing the grist with hot water activates the three major enzymes (alpha
amylase, beta amylase and limit dextrinase) to break down the starch to soluble sugars,
primarily maltose, maltotriose and dextrins.

-We pass three hot water washes through the grist, extract as much of the sugar from the
malt as we possibly can, passing the first and second waters – called “worts” – on to the
fermentation stage. Each of the three waters increases in temperature, the first at 64C the
second 78C and the third 86C. The third water, called the “sparge” and the hottest of all, still
contains a small amount of the sugars, so we reserve this water and use it to start the next
mashing process, making best use of energy. Mashing time is about 8 hours.

-Once completed, we have no further use at the distillery for the remaining husks and residual
material left at the bottom of the mash tun after draining. This is called “draff”. Draff is
processed at our jointly owned biomass plant in Rothes and converted into electricity for
feeding into the national grid. We then cool the worts down to less than 20C.
Borehole or “Process” water
- Most water in Scotland is soft; the Macallan borehole water has an average pH level of 6.8 ,
which we might describe as “moderately soft” (hard water could lead to lime scale deposits
building up on pipework/boilers/wash backs etc. – which may slow production due to extra
cleaning). “Hardness” usually relates to calcium and magnesium levels.
- The borehole is driven vertically into the ground to an average depth of 20 - 25 feet on the
Macallan estate to reach the spring water table. This “process” water is used for :
i) Mixing with the malt grist in the mash tun, ii) To reduce the alcohol strength: a) in the spirit
receiver (drawn from the spirit still from 72% to 68% abv) down to filling strength in cask at
63.5% ), b) when the casks are tipped for a bottling, the strength is reduced again in the
operations warehouse vats down to 45% abv. The strength may vary for special bottlings.
Some of the water used in strength reduction is treated in the demineralisation plant to
remove metal anions and prevent haze issues at bottling, iii) Cleaning
- We use approx 3.8 million litres of process water in a week. We have a Controlled Activities
Regulations (CAR) Licence for this activity, including limits on volume and flow rate.
- Most process water ends up as the water constituent of the whisky. Some will be in the pot
ale, some in the wet draff, some as waste washing waters from caustic cleaning. Waste
waters (trade effluent) are treated in the new effluent treatment plant using membrane
technology. Treated effluent is returned to the River Spey, and has to meet Discharge Quality
Standards (concentrations for specific parameters) with a Controlled Activities Regulations
 Cooling water

- We currently take water from the Ringorm Burn and the River Spey for use as cooling water
in the wash and spirit still condensers.

- River water is known as “surface water”, and is not generally used for processing due to
potential contamination e.g. from fields, run off, animal related contamination etc.

- There are screens at the Ringorm Burn and river Spey off-takes to remove debris and protect
the pumps pumping the water uphill to the distillery

- We use approximately 49 million litres of surface water each week through the condensers.

- Used cooling water is returned to the River Spey as it is, but it must meet a temperature
condition in a Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR) Licence for this activity. (Some
distilleries need cooling towers, to reduce the used cooling water temperature, before
returning the water to the watercourse for compliance with any CAR Licence temperature
limit - these cooling towers require chemical treatment to manage the legionella risk
associated with them; at the Macallan we have no need for cooling towers because the
temperature of the returning water is rapidly absorbed into the temperature of the river Spey
into which it’s discharged).
Production House 1). We add 140 litres of a specially formulated cream yeast, held in an refrigerated tank, into the line carrying the worts into the w

Fermentation : yeast converts the “wort”

to alcohol and carbon dioxide.

- From the mash tun in Production House No.1 we transfer 36,400 litres of wort into each
of the 19 stainless steel wash backs and from the mash tun in Production House No.2
27,000 litres of wort into each of the 6 traditional wooden (made from Douglas Fir by our
own coopers) wash backs and 3 stainless steel washbacks. Total of 28 washbacks at
The Macallan.

- We add 185 litres in Production House No.1 and 160 litres in Production House No.2 of
a specially formulated cream yeast, held in an refrigerated tank, into the pipe carrying
the worts into the washbacks. This specially formulated yeast (liquid MS1 from Kerry
Ingredients at Menstrie, near Stirling) has characteristics which allows for speedy initial
fermentation. A new batch of yeast is added for each new fermentation because yeast
dies off as the temperature increases in each fermentation.

- Yeast is added to the worts at a starting temperature of 17.5 C, and fermentation takes
an average of 50 hours for the yeast to convert most of the sugars into a weak alcohol
of some 8%, and carbon dioxide. This alcohol is called “wash” and typically is pumped
out of the Macallan’s wash backs at a temperature of 32.0 C.
Distillation 1 : wash stills or low wine stills
- In Production House No.1, we pump the wash from the wash backs into one of the 5 large
- copper pot-stills, called wash, or low wines, stills; these are all indirectly heated through
steam coils and pans. In Production House No.2, the wash is heated by circulating the
wash through external heat exchangers.

- The alcohols boil at a lower temperature than the water and so vaporise first. This alcohol
vapour passes up the body and neck of the still, down the lyne arm and through a “shell
and tube” condenser, which is kept cool using cold River Spey water. The condensed
liquid, now called low wines, is collected in a receiver. Distillation is stopped when the
alcohol level in the distillate reaches a set cut point.

- What remains (the residue) in the still is known as pot-ale, which contains dead yeast cells
amongst other material. This is later processed by evaporation into pot ale syrup for cattle
feed and fertiliser.

- In Production House No.1, wash stills numbers 1 and 2 hold 10,000 litres. Numbers 3, 4
and 5 hold 12,750 litres. In Production house 2, the wash stills have a capacity of 12,000
litres. The low wines will be around 21% alcohol and are distilled at a rate of 20 litres a
minute. Distillation will take around 5 hours.
 Distillation 2 : spirit stills
- All the spirit stills in both Production House No.1 and Production House No.2 are indirect
fired by steam coils and pans within the stills. There are 10 spirit stills in Production house
No. 1, and 4 spirit stills in Production House No.2.
- Each of the 14 spirit stills holds 3,900 litres. These are very small stills by industry standards,
the famous “curiously small stills” of The Macallan. Their very small size means there is little
“reflux”, when the heavier vapours fall back into the boiling wash; the taller the still, the more
reflux, resulting in a lighter, more delicate spirit; the Macallan’s small stills do the opposite,
allowing more of the heavier alcohols to pass up the still and down the lyne arm to condense
back, giving a stronger, more muscular new make spirit.
- The distillation from the spirit stills can be divided into four parts : The first fraction, called
“Foreshots” and distilled at 8 litres a minute, and third fraction, called “Feints” ,distilled at 12
litres a minute, are returned to the low wines receiver to be distilled again in the spirit stills
with the next batch of low wines from the wash stills.
- The second fraction, or “spirit” is the heart of the run (distilled at The Macallan at a slow 8
litres a minute), with the most desirable flavours. At The Macallan this is only a very small
16% of the total distillation, the “Finest Cut”. This is the fraction filled to cask for maturation,
at a strength of 63.5% alcohol by volume. The fourth and last fraction is called ‘Spent Lees’
(mostly water). This is piped away for processing to remove any copper residues and for
treatment in our biological treatment plant, before being returned to the River Spey.
- Distillation in the spirit stills takes approximately five hours.
 Maturation
- The Macallan has always been known for its maturation in sherry seasoned casks, made
from both Spanish and American oak. Even with the introduction of American oak, bourbon
whiskey seasoned barrels into the make-up of some Macallan expressions, some 90% of
casks maturing at The Macallan are sherry casks.
- Currently there are some 230,000 casks maturing at The Macallan. The majority are the
traditional 500 litre sherry “butt”. The other casks are 500 L puncheons, 250 L hogsheads and
200L barrels.
- Currently there are 19 traditional dunnage warehouses, and 25 more modern racked
warehouses at The Macallan. Current total of 44 warehouses.
- The Macallan accounts for some 85% of all new sherry seasoned casks imported from Spain
to Scotland to mature scotch whisky. These are crucial for delivering the distinctive “house
style” of The Macallan.
- All Macallan bottled under distillery control derives its colour solely and naturally from the oak
maturation cask. Nothing artificial is ever added to adjust colour.
- The Macallan has one of the largest warehouse teams in the industry to look after the
exceptional maturation casks on site (some 26 people).
- Before bottling, the Macallan’s whiskies, from all the casks selected for a bottling, are married
together in old casks for several months (the actual marrying period depends on the age of
the whiskies; approx 4 weeks for 12yo up to 6 months + for 25yo/30yo) to allow the alcohols
and water to blend together naturally and harmoniously into the final bottled whisky.
Cask types at The Macallan

Size
Butt (500L) Puncheon (500L) Hogshead (250L) Barrel (200L)

1. European Oak 1. European Oak 1. European Oak

(Quercus Robur) (Quercus Robur) (Quercus Robur)
1. American Oak
Wood Type Sherry seasoned Sherry seasoned Sherry seasoned
(Quercus Alba)
2. American Oak 2. American Oak 2. American Oak
Bourbon seasoned
(Quercus Alba) Sherry (Quercus Alba) Sherry (Quercus Alba) Sherry
seasoned seasoned seasoned
Approx. outturn
after 12 years at 888 bottles @ 70cl 888 bottles @ 70cl 444 bottles @ 70cl 348 bottles @ 70cl
40% abv
Bottling

The Macallan is finally bottled by Edrington at Great Western Road, Glasgow.