The obsession with quality has been the hallmark of The Macallan since its founding by Alexander Reid on a plateau above the Spey River in north east Scotland. The distillery is surrounded by a 150-hectare estate with Easter Elchies House in the center, under Craigellachie. Outside the few municipalities that fall under the Speyside denomination, it falls within the broader denomination of Highlands. The distinctive historical character is to be found in the use of ex-sherry oak barrels from Jerez de la Frontera. From 2004 the distillery then began to make aging in which part of the ex-Bourbon American oak barrels fell.
