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Macallan 33 Year Old, Statement No. 53
This is a single cask of Macallan, distilled at the distillery on 12th June 1989 and left alone for thirty three years. In June 2022, Blackadder drew it from cask reference 9333 at its natural strength of 57.3% abv and filled exactly 172 decanters. Nothing was added, nothing was filtered out. It is presented Raw Cask, straight from the wood, in a glass decanter with its presentation gift case.
Macallan needs little introduction. It is the most valuable single malt name at auction, the distillery whose casks anchor the record books, and the benchmark by which collectors measure a Speyside cellar. What makes this bottling unusual is not the name but the route it took. Macallan almost never lets casks leave its control, and independent bottlings of well aged Macallan have become genuinely scarce. A 33 year old single cask, offered outside the official range, is a rarity in its own right.
Spirit distilled at Macallan in 1989 belongs to an era collectors actively hunt, and stock from that vintage has commanded remarkable sums as both bottles and full casks. With an outturn of 172 and a Statement number attached, this is Blackadder's own verdict on the cask: one of the definitive whiskies to pass through the family's hands. When it is gone there is no second run.
About Blackadder Statement
Blackadder International was founded in 1995 by Robin Tucek and remains a family operation, run today with his daughter Hannah and son Michael. The house philosophy has never changed: the cask is king. Every release is bottled without chill filtration and without added colour, and the Raw Cask series goes further still, bottled straight from the cask so that nothing standing between the wood and the glass is lost.
Statement is Blackadder's flagship series. A Statement number is reserved for the casks the family judges definitive, the finest whiskies to pass through their warehouse in a given era. The rarest of these are presented in glass decanters rather than standard bottles. This is Statement No. 53.
Distillery profile
- Founded in 1824 on the Easter Elchies estate above the River Spey, one of the first distilleries in Scotland to be legally licensed.
- Famous for its curiously small stills and a house style built on rich, oily spirit and a deep sherry cask tradition.
- The most collected single malt in the world: Macallan holds the auction records for both single bottles and single casks of Scotch whisky.
- The distillery rarely allows casks into independent hands, which is why independent Macallan of serious age carries weight with collectors.
- Well aged Macallan from late 1980s distillation has repeatedly set headline prices at auction, as bottles and as entire casks.
Cask profile
Cask reference 9333 was filled at Macallan on 12th June 1989 and matured in Scotland for thirty three years. Blackadder bottled it in June 2022 at 57.3% abv, a strikingly assertive strength for its age, with no dilution, no chill filtration, and no colouring.
As a Raw Cask release it was drawn directly from the wood. Fine cask sediment may be present in the decanter. Blackadder considers that sediment part of the whisky, not a flaw, and bottles it deliberately.
The outturn is 172 decanters worldwide, each presented in its gift case with a certificate of ownership. The Whiskey Lab's allocation is a small fraction of that number.
Certificate of Ownership
Each decanter ships in its presentation gift case and is accompanied by a certificate of ownership issued in the purchaser's name by Blackadder International. Your name, on the record of this cask, permanently.
On Tasting Notes
You will not find Blackadder's tasting notes here. By design.
Blackadder shares every technical detail a curious drinker could ask for: distillery, cask number, distillation date, bottling date, ABV, outturn. Everything that makes the liquid what it is. What they leave to you is the experience of drinking it.
Tasting notes shape expectation. They tell you what you should find before you find it. Blackadder's position is that the spirit in your glass should speak for itself, and what you find there belongs to you. Pour it neat. Add a few drops of water if it asks for it. Take your time. The cask did.
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Brand | Blackadder International |
| Series | Statement No. 53, Raw Cask |
| Format | Glass decanter in presentation gift case |
| Style | Single Malt Scotch Whisky, single cask |
| Region | Speyside |
| Distillery | Macallan Distillery |
| Age | 33 years |
| ABV | 57.3% |
| Volume | 700ml |
| Cask reference | 9333 |
| Distilled | 12th June 1989 |
| Bottled | June 2022 |
| Outturn | 172 bottles worldwide |
| Cask strength | Yes, bottled straight from the cask |
| Non-chill filtered | Yes |
| Natural colour | Yes |
| Certificate | Certificate of ownership issued in the purchaser's name |
| Availability | Open release |
The Whiskey Lab's Quality Commitments
- Single Cask & Small Batch: Ensuring a unique profile for each release.
- Natural Colour & Non-Chill Filtered: Preserving the authentic character and purity of the whisky.
- Honest Storytelling: Every cask profile written by people who actually handled the liquid.
