Going Underground

Asia-Pacific Boating savours a first-hand look at The Macallan distillery’s makeover extraordinaire.

- Joyce Yip

UNDER MANICURED PASTURES on undulating hills, a structure of glass and metal beams ebbs and flows to the swelling top – the wave-like timber roof separating the works of nature and man.

Despite spanning a monstrous 14,800sqm, the property itself is completely buried in the ground, so from a bird’s eye view the Scottish fields run on for miles undisturbed.

This isn’t – as some of the brand’s upper management jokingly say – Teletubby Land. It’s actually The Macallan’s newest distillery and visitor centre, a project that cost GBP140 million (about US$185 million) and took almost four years to build.

It remains in the vicinity of the whisky’s Georgian-style spiritual home, against the bank of River Spey – an area famous for whisky-making and where The Macallan sources its water for its tipples – yet the property is a far cry from what’d we imagine a 194-year-old distillery to look like.

It’s like a space ship, immaculate and industrious. Copper stills are perfectly aligned against mash tuns; spotless glass panelling lines the exteriors and railings; and on preview night, a lightshow spanning the entirety of the façade could pass for any Coachella performance.