Spirited News 01/2025: Macbeth Single Malts

The Macbeth whisky series is a cooperation of Elixir Distillers, Livingstone, Dave Broom as well as illustrator Sir Quentin Blake. There will be 42 whiskies in total in five acts. Each whisky / characters belongs to one of six categories: The Leads, the Thanes, the Witches, the Murderers, the Ghosts and the Household.

Alexi Burgess had the idea for this series of single malts. Dave Broom wrote stories for the whiskies then Sukhinder Singh and Oliver Chilton had to find the corresponding barrels. During the meeting, I unfortunately had problems connecting to the meeting, so I missed a few things. Yet, here are my tasting notes for the six whiskies. The first two whiskies came from the “Household” category.

Soldier

The “Soldier” bottling comes from the Benrinnes distillery and a 12-year-old whisky. It starts with notes reminding me of agaves, there is a hint of smoke some and some buttery flavours. The high ABV is quite noticeable with some menthol notes. With a bit of water, the whisky becomes more approachable.

Servant

Next in the Household Series comes a 14-year-old whisky from the Clynelish Distillery called “Servant“. The whisky starts with fruity notes and spiced apples accompanied by some perfumed notes. In the taste, you can find more spices with some fruit esters as well as a hint of chili.

Young Siward

Young Siward” comes from Highland Park and there will be another Highland Park in some of the future releases which then will be called “Siward”. The single malt starts with a hint of smoke and sherry fruits, reminding me of raspberries and gooseberries. On the palate I found charcoal as well as more sherry fruits and vanilla.

Second Murderer

Second Murderer“. The nose of the 17-year-old single malt starts with a lot of smoke, peat smoke as well as sherry notes. You can also find more dark fruits in the taste as well as some perfumed notes and overripe fruits. This was my favourite whisky of the evening.

Second Witch

Second Witch” comes from an undisclosed Islay distillery, but there are rumours that it could be Laphraoig. The 26-year-old single malt starts with smoke, leaning more towards bonfire smoke. There are definitely those soapy ester notes of an old Scotch noticeable. On your palate, you can find additional sherry fruits along with a hint of gooseberries.

Ross

Ross“. The single malt started with characteristic ester notes from old Scotch whisky. Afterwards, you got some fruits, e.g. green apples and peaches, as well as some vanilla. The Ben Nevis also reminded me of hazelnuts. Towards the end of the taste, I got some grassy and perfumed flavours.

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. I received the whiskies for free from Kirsch Whisky.