Macallan 14 Year Old Moon Import 59% / Half Moon

Moon Import was founded by Pepi Mongiardino in 1980. Heeding the advice of the late, great, Silvano Samaroli, he opted to be "free from the big companies," and became the official distributor for Islay's Bruichladdich, and later Tamnavulin and Tullibardine, preferring however to procure casks from private owners. Mongiardino bottled his first whisky in 1982, titled the Half Moon series. Always beautifully labelled, Pepi is acclaimed for designing the packaging for Moon Import bottles himself, using images found in old books. The famous Birds, Animals, Costumes and Sea series were all labelled using pictures he discovered in an 18th century German encyclopaedia. These iconic designs, coupled with the quality of the liquid saw Moon Import steadily grow in popularity, and with the help of Intertrade founder, Nadi Fiori, they exported their first bottles to Japan in 2001. 

This 14 year old Macallan is from Moon Import's inaugural Half Moon series and is one of two from the distillery. Matured in sherry wood.

It may be hard to imagine today, but for much of the 20th century, Macallan was primarily a constituent malt in blends. It was not until the 1980s downturn in the market that the distillery decided to focus on its single malt brand. Fortuitously, this coincided with the crest of a wave of enthusiasm for the high quality releases that the distillery had licensed to Campbell, Hope & King and Gordon & MacPhail in the 1960s and 1970s. These remain some of the most collectible on the market. While global single malt sales volume is still lead by Speyside neighbours, Glenfiddich and Glenlivet, Macallan is easily the most sought after. So much so in fact, that they had to open a brand new distillery in 2018, a subterranean architectural masterpiece within the Easter Elchies estate, boasting 36 copper pot stills.