From artisanal spirits crafted in small batches to opulent wines that tell a story of terroir and tradition, there’s no better time to invest in a bottle of something extraordinary, promising a memorable experience with every sip.
Soaring spirits
Time Travel with The Macallan
Said to be the most expensive whisky ever sold, a bottle of The Macallan Valerio Adami 1926 60-year-old fetched a record-breaking price of $1.1 million at a 2018 Bonhams auction in Edinburgh. This year, The Macallan celebrates 200 years of existence with The Macallan Time : Space Collection, comprising two unique expressions of their precious liquid. There’s an element of sci-fi alchemy at work: to mark the anniversary, master distiller Kirsteen Campbell symbolically reached back in time and selected two casks of rare whisky distilled in 1940 from peated malt barley. The circular vessel created for the collection does, in fact, look like some kind of time machine, and comprises two conjoined capsules, one containing the 84-year-old spirit, the other receptacle filled with a 2018 vintage, aged in sherry-seasoned American oak hogsheads.
The 300
Serious whisky collectors would do well to get their hands on a bottle of Glenfiddich Grand Château 31-year-old single malt whisky, of which only 300 are available in South Africa. The whisky has been aged and finished in two sets of Bordeaux wine casks to achieve deep, complex flavours (caramelised cherries and apples, spices and toasted oak), boasts a reddish colour, and a price tag of R40 000.
Winning Waters
Established in 1895 in Keith in Banffshire, Scotland, Bacardi-owned Aultmore is a Speyside distillery whose name is associated with quality and rooted in lore: it’s derived from the Gaelic phrase An t-Allt Mòr, meaning ‘big burn’, a reference to its water source, the Burn of Auchinderran, said to be responsible for its whiskies’ incredible smoothness and purity. The tasting panel at this year’s International Whisky Competition confirmed this by naming Aultmore’s 25-year-old single malt Whisky of the Year and declaring its creator, Stephanie Macleod, Distiller of the Year. Matured in Oloroso sherry casks, the liquid is stunningly complex, with beautiful integration of floral notes, various fruits, butterscotch, ginger and leather, which are picked up on the nose and followed through with mounting intensity on the palate. One judge noted that it would be difficult to identify any element of the whisky that could be improved upon.
Sip of Adventure
While Jura 14-year-old single malt Scotch is available locally, adventurous whisky drinkers might consider a pilgrimage to the distillery on the eponymous Isle of Jura in Scotland for an up-close look at its rarer spirits. It’s quite a mission, requiring you to first get to the Isle of Islay before catching a ferry. The distillery is in Craighouse, the main village on an island with one road, one shop, one pub, one hotel and around 212 people. A worthwhile trek, though, to see how they get their libations so smooth. Gorgeously spicy and aromatic, with fresh citrus, mango and vanilla, and herbal and floral notes, the 14-year-old is matured in old American rye barrels responsible for toffee and maple syrup aromas, and the scent of guava and gentle wood spice. In the mouth, there’s the richness of pecan-nut pie and toffee apple, cinnamon, cacao and hazelnut – flavours that will take you back to Jura with every sip.
American Gold
Newly introduced to South Africa, Gold Bar Whiskey is blended from rye, corn and barley whiskeys produced at distilleries across the US and then matured in Californian wine barrels in a San Francisco rickhouse. Overseeing the blend is second-generation Napa Valley winemaker Monty Paulsen, who achieved double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition for the golden amber spirit with its delicate sweetness and creamy-smooth mouthfeel. Definitely not a Scotch, but full of American pizazz: red-fruit flavours, hints of wood smoke, baked spice and lingering vanilla sweetness. And the bottle, shaped like a gold bar, certainly makes a statement.
Rémy Martin’s Triple Century
Commemorating the tricentennial of one of Cognac’s most distinguished maisons, this year saw the release of several limited-edition spirits, including Rémy Martin XO 300th Anniversary in its iconic XO decanter presented in a flamboyant gold gift box. The real reward, though, is its taste: from ripe plum and candied orange, to spices and hazelnuts, its finishing flavours include roasted cacao and honeyed gingerbread – utterly exquisite.
Also memorable on the palate, is Rémy Martin’s 300th Anniversary Coupe, a historic and very limited release that cellarmaster Baptiste Loiseau swears will never be reproduced.
The blend, available in just 6 724 individually numbered bottles, is made from a reserve supply of eaux de vie that, over the years, is enriched and topped up by successive cellarmasters in a long-term creative process known as Réserve Perpétuelle (or ‘Perpetual Reserve’), which ensures that the precious spirit never runs dry.
With this special birthday batch, Loiseau has crafted some-thing marvellously layered, complex and delicious.
Wines of distinction
A Roaring Success
From Stellenbosch’s De Toren Private Cellar, The Black Lion is among the finest 100% Shiraz wines this country has ever produced, cultivated from select hand-manicured vines that apparently receive unrivalled individual attention. Once fermented, it’s aged in new French oak for 18 months; each year, no more than 1 300 individually numbered bottles go into the world (its 2012 maiden vintage saw just 608 bottles produced, precious liquid indeed). You can happily open it right away but its phenomenal ageing potential means that, in optimal conditions, you can let it mature for up to 40 years.
Size Matters
With its clean, simple label and strikingly Biblical name, Babylonstoren’s Nebukadnesar 2021 Magnum is a big (literally), bold, local Bordeaux blend, so moreish, in fact, it seems obvious to fill double-volume bottles with it. Comprising 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 13.5% Petit Verdot, 12% Cabernet Franc,
and 0.5% Malbec, it’s dry yet fresh, full-bodied yet sleek, with velvety tannins and a deep, saturated, dark ruby colour. Easy to drink right now, it will accrue tremendous complexity over the next decade. It’s available in limited quantities and worthy of collecting from the farm personally. No one ever regretted a
visit. While you’re there, sign up to their Wine Club, which will give you access to their new flagship Pinot Noir, In die Wolke 2019.
Rebel Spirit
The Swartland is known for its fiercely independent wine farmers who prefer to interfere less and allow the land to speak through the grapes. Leading the pack with near-cult authority, Eben Sadie has been called South Africa’s most anarchic winemaker, keeping it as natural as possible after abandoning conventional winemaking in 2000. Since then he’s been experimenting with heritage grape stock, unusual blends, and vintages made from minute parcels of vineyard under The Sadie Family Wines label. While his ballsiness has produced many phenomenal wines, the one that critics and picky drinkers frequently return to as evidence of his magic touch is The Sadie Family Columella 2018, said to be as harmonious as any wine can be. A multi-vineyard Syrah-dominated blend of red Mediterranean varieties, one apt descriptor is ‘scintillating’, while Sadie himself says it’s ‘a wine with a big temperament: explosive, but not excessive’. Incidentally, Sadie’s 2022 Columella scored 99 in Tim Atkin’s 2024 South African wine report. As did Sadie’s 2023 Mev Kirsten, a shockingly good Chenin Blanc.
The Swartland’s Sweet Solera
Also in the Swartland, California-born Andrea Mullineux avoids any intervention in either the vineyard or the cellar that might detract from a wine’s sense of place. ‘The number one priority is being able to taste where a wine is from,’ she says. ‘It should be unique to its region, and ideally to a specific vineyard.’ Exemplifying this pursuit of an honest, authentic expression of place is her Mullineux Olerasay #3, a straw wine produced from 100% Chenin Blanc grapes harvested from parcels of old vines in the Kasteelberg’s stony schist as well as the Paardeberg’s decomposed granite. The dessert wine is produced using appassimento (a process that sees the grapes dry on straw mats to concentrate the sweetness and flavours before being pressed). Each harvest’s liquid is combined with wine from barrels held back annually since 2008, so each new bottling is a deeply complex blend that includes a portion of each harvest’s solera.
Morning Glory
At their cellar in the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, Chris and Suzaan Alheit practise ‘minimalist’ winemaking using natural fermentation to produce personality-forward wines that elegantly and boldly express the character of the various places in which their grapes are grown. ‘We’re interested in unadorned, honest winemaking, because we believe in letting the vineyards speak for themselves,’ says Chris. This earned their 2023 Alheit Vineyards Nautical Dawn Chenin Blanc full marks in Tim Atkin’s wine report, the only wine to achieve this distinction, and prompting him to call it ‘a perfect wine in every sense… emblematic of the terroir-driven approach’.
The Spanish Mentor
Strawberries, red cherries, raspberries and hints of tobacco on the nose. Cloves, dried fig and hints of leather, a solid tannin backbone and substantial acidity on the palate… The Mentors Limited Edition Tempranillo 2021 is the latest in a series of progressive wines produced at KWV. Winemaker Izele van Blerk works exclusively on this limited-edition range as a way of showcasing single variety expressions from specific vineyards, ie., wines for connoisseurs curious about lesser-known varietals. Only 1 000 litres of the Spanish cultivar have been produced, using grapes grown in a block in a small Wellington vineyard.
A Rare Red Blend
Just 900 bottles of the rare Merlot-Syrah blend Holden Manz Elysium 2021 exist, its production only possible when the two cultivars ripen simultaneously. The 2021 is the fourth such vintage, the grapes hand-picked, hand-sorted and then subjected to spontaneous fermentation with a 50-day cuvaison before a 24-month maturation in new French oak. It’s a powerful blend, with ripe berries, intense black cherry and dark chocolate on the nose, not to mention a slight white truffle scent. The flavours (mocha and nutmeg with hints of anise) are no less full-on, yet it’s refined, elegant, and – crucially – most memorable.
Keith Bain
