If you’d have asked me what I thought of the food offering at distilleries a few years back I wouldn’t have raved, more ranted.
But now, the investment going into venues across Scotland has sparked an interest in brands updating and introducing new food concepts.
Elchies Brasserie at the Macallan Distillery is just one of those venues now putting food at the forefront of its offering, showcasing local produce and seasonal food on all of its menus.
As part of Macallan Distillery’s mastery experience, I got the opportunity to try out the five-course tasting menu, however, the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner on Saturdays and Sundays.
The mastery experience is a four-hour immersive tour which kicks off with the tasting menu with paired wines.
Each course has been carefully crafted by head chef, Pawel Sowa, and each dish was a work of art, with some flair added in there, too.
What I loved about Elchies Brasserie was how open plan it was, with just a few tables dotted around the space. It also looked onto the distillery’s still house so my boyfriend and I could watch the staff at work
The five-course tasting menu
To begin, we were treated to a chestnut espuma with pickled pear and honey truffle.
The mushroom was a mousse-like foam and melted in my mouth. The thinly sliced truffle pieces snapped lightly against the juicy, paper-thin mushroom slices.
It was beautifully presented in a ceramic bowl and set the meal off on a very positive start.
Up next was the line-caught sea trout with trout mousse and cucumber.
It was as delicate as the first course and also served in a fashionable bowl.
Our first wine, a white number, was served with it and paired wonderfully. The caviar was carefully placed on top and the sea trout itself was cooked perfectly. Not too fishy, the cucumber balanced everything out and the mousse was soft yet strong in flavour.
The third course, or how I saw it – the main, was Kellas Estate venison with parsnip, hazelnut and a tobacco jus.
The mention of tobacco immediately made me screw my face up, but as I dived in, it was really only the smokiness of the ingredient which was apparent.
Perfectly medium/rare, the venison was just exquisite. It was succulent and flavoursome and an ideal size given we still had two courses to entertain.
It had been served with a gorgeous red which continued to grow on me with each sip.
To begin the descent to the sweeter offering, we were presented with The Macallan malt panna cotta with new make spirit granita.
The panna cotta was soft and creamy, but the granita – a semi frozen dessert made from sugar, and in this case new make spirit instead of water – was the real talking point of this dish.
It was cold, and sharp in taste, and you could really appreciate the flavours of the new make spirit in there.
Up next was the chocolate mousse with The Macallan Sherry Oak 12-Year-Old namelaka.
This was my favourite sweet treat.
The ball of chocolate mousse was much harder than I’d imagined and took a while to melt in my mouth, but the namelaka (a creamy cross between a ganache and a creme patissiere was absolutely incredible. It was fabulously sweet and reminded me of white chocolate.
The touch of sherry cask whisky tickled the insides of my cheeks and the popcorn and crumbed biscuit on top finished it off beautifully.
And just when I thought the food was done, two massive chocolate macarons with a touch of whisky in them were placed in front of us.
As was a cup of coffee for my other half and two drams of The Macallan 12-Year-Old Double Cask to finish.
The whisky was to prepare us for what was to come next on the tour, which you can read in my review of the full mastery experience.
The verdict
While I enjoyed the tasting menu as part of the mastery experience, I most certainly would be happy to be invited or lunch or dinner at the venue with or without a whisky tasting booked.
The venue itself is absolutely breath-taking, and while the dining room is very open plan and spacious with the high ceilings, the setting is intimate and allows for
Information
Address: The Macallan Estate, Easter Elchies, Aberlour AB38 9RX
T: 01340 318 000
W: www.themacallan.com/en/distillery/book-experiences
Lunch is served noon to 4pm (last orders 2.30pm)on Saturdays and Sundays and dinner from 7pm to 11pm (last orders 8.30pm) on selected evenings.
Price: The tasting menu was included in the £250 per person mastery experience.