The Macallan Folio 1 is a limited edition that was released exclusively at the Macallan Distillery in 2015.  This is one of only 2000 bottles produced of the first bottling in this series.

Folio 1 is the first release in a 24 part series that celebrates and revisits The Macallan’s original print, press and film advertising campaign; mapping the story of The Macallan from a remote farmstead on the River Spey to a whisky that is enjoyed around the world.

As with all the Folio releases, the bottle is presented in an elegant book-shaped tin box.

The Macallan Folio 2 was a 2017 limited release from Macallan that was only available from the distillery. The distillery staff confirmed that the liquid is 12 years old, sherry cask matured and limited 2000 bottles. Although none of these details are stated on the packaging.

The second in a range of whiskies recreating the old advertising styles of Macallan, the front is adorned with a watercolour image done by Artist Sara Midda, who’s works are synonymous with Macallan of the 1990s and early 2000s.

The Macallan Folio 3‘s theme is Macallan advertising campaigns from the 1980’s and 1990’s, and the presentation includes a book containing the best of these. The illustration on the box is from an advert used in a Victorian era edition of Punch magazine, and is intended to capture the notion that whisky is best produced in cold weather, a remark that Macallan claim was made on their very own estate at Easter Elchies.

The Macallan Folio 4 features an advertisement including a Strathspey composed by James Scott Skinner (1843-1927). The ad notes that Skinner, “The Strathspey King”, was moved to music by the lilting flavour and melting resonances of a tumbler of his favourite malt whisky – The Macallan.

The ad, small but ground breaking, was the first instance of musical notation displayed on a page of British newspaper, The Times, and quite possibly in the advertising of any whisky.

The Macallan Folio 5 features an advertisement depicting a deerstalker cap or “Luggy Bonnet”. The wearer is urged to keep the knot tightly fastened securing the earflaps in in case you were to miss an offer of a dram of Macallan.

Due to Macallan’s popularity, the advertisement was considered a waste of time on British soil.

The Macallan Folio 6 features the character of The Chairman. He is dressed as a Scotsman dancing the Highland fling over a pen and brush which were the symbols of the distilleries publicity advisers Holmes and Salaman. The Macallan Chairman Allan Shiach would occasionally suggest ideas to the team and the two departments would often clash. Shiach’s addition of The Chairman character was a polite reminder to his publicity advisers that he would always have the final say.

The Macallan Folio 7 explores one of their legendary advertising campaigns from 1986, ‘The Boffins Baffled’, which tells the story of a party of scientists who were left positively baffled when asked why The Macallan was so special.

THE BOFFINS BAFFLED:  A beautiful and deliciously quirky, interpretation of the story of our exceptional whisky, slumbering patiently in sherry seasoned oak casks. The Macallan Directors of the time invited a party of scientists to unravel the story as to why The Macallan was so special, but they were left positively baffled. No scientific rationale could account for the magic which took place inside of the casks, so the Boffins insisted on taking extra whisky back to the laboratory – all in the name of ‘research’.