I got a few emails this week about the single cask vs. standard edition post I wrote earlier this week. The main question: Macallan 25 is a blend? Yes, the official Macallan 25 is indeed a blend of many different Macallan 25+ year old barrels. It’s not a blended whisky because it’s made entirely of Macallan single malt, but it is a carefully crafted blend of Macallan single malt whiskies.

Here’s a visual analogy of how I think about single cask whiskies versus blends (or standard edition releases):

I took these photos from jeweler Jean-Noel Soni’s Instagram page (@topnotchfaceting) to show you what a precious stone looks like before and after it’s cut to perfection. I follow Jean-Noel because he’s friends with my other jeweler friends, and I have jeweler friends because my wife is into jewels. Which means, in order to be a good husband, I am also into jewels.

The photo above is an emerald—uncut (cask strength!).

The photo below is the stone after it’s been cut by Jean-Noel.

Which version is more beautiful to you?

You might actually prefer the uncut stone. And, in fact, after seeing nothing but cut stones for your entire life on television and in magazines, you might be tired of hand-crafted perfection. It could be that the rugged, uncut nature of an emerald captures a new and exciting ideal of natural, rough-hewn beauty in your mind. It’s completely subjective.

Single cask whiskies can be mind-blowing; so good that you lament every drop you’ll never get back.

But, to me, they will never capture the light the way a perfectly-cut blend of different whiskies does. In turn, I gravitate towards cut, rather than uncut.

-David Driscoll