Tasting menus are a Marmite-like phenomenon which people seem to either love or hate.
There were some groans from our tour group at The Macallan, some of whom I overheard saying were already planning to get a takeaway after the meal.
But I suspend judgement, keen to try the offering from TimeSpirit.
I’m on a £250 Mastery Experience Tour at The Macallan Distillery in Aberlour.
And the tour ends with a tasting menu at the new restaurant, from the brothers behind the three-Michelin-starred El Celler de Can Roca in Spain.
The restaurant recently earned a spot on the Michelin Guide.
What is TimeSpirit restaurant like?
I don’t know what to expect from the six-course tasting menu.
But from the moment we enter the restaurant, the décor is striking.
The white walls behind the shelves of wine intentionally mimic the white chalky earth where the grapes are grown.
We walk through here to reach our table, where the tour group are to dine together.
The six-course lunch menu costs £60 per person, while the dinner menu costs £95 per person.
Paired wines cost an additional £55, while a whisky pairing is £65.
It’s dark by the time we make our way through the restaurant. The floor to ceiling windows offer a view out into the dark countryside beyond.
This would be even more beautiful in daylight, I’m sure.
The kitchen stands in the centre of the room, offering diners a view of their dishes being expertly crafted. A lovely touch.
Vegetarian haggis starts off The Macallan tasting menu
The first course is the “Distil your world appetisers” – we all gasp as this is set down in front of us.
Served on a golden globe instead of a plate, the appetisers each depict the world of distillation.
Scotland is represented by a vegetarian haggis. The plump, doughy parcel is bursting with spice, and paired with a tangy spiced mayonnaise.
Jerez, known for its sherry, offers cured mackerel – topped with caviar – which is delicious too.
Mexico City is a tangy taco, topped with radish and mango salad. This is a creamy, flavourful bite, and the punch of lime really comes through.
New York is of course represented by a miniature burger. The tender chunk of steak is melt in the mouth, and definitely my favourite appetiser.
Finally, London’s point on the globe is topped with a paper-thin casing, filled with a generous dome of creamy chicken liver pâté.
The awe-inspiring appetisers are followed by the vegetarian sea and surf course.
This dish features phytoplankton mousse, Scottish seaweed and herbs.
It’s like a little ecosystem on a plate – foraged mushrooms, flowers and wild herbs aplenty, sitting in pumpkin seed milk and a drizzle of basil oil.
The combination of land and sea – sans meat – is ingenious, and the presentation is faultless.
Barley has never tasted so good
Our next course focuses on the iconic Macallan barley – without which the distillery and its world-renowned whisky, would not exist.
At the bottom of the plate, there’s a layer of fermented barley. This is topped with a caramelised yeast puree, with barley crisps on top.
All the key components for whisky on a plate, our friendly server Dani tells us.
The rustic dish has very rich flavours, and an almost cheesy element to it.
And the contrast in textures of the softened barley with the crunchy crisps makes for an amazing mouthfeel.
The next course feels like luxury on a plate.
We are presented with bamboo steamers, which contain oysters steamed in 12-year-old whisky.
There are oysters in multiple forms. As well as the steamed one, there is also a oyster soup, and a seaweed mousse.
The soup is delicate, silky and creamy, and captures the flavour of the oyster in a very different but very moreish consistency.
What is next at Michelin Guide restaurant TimeSpirit?
At Macallan, whisky is their bread and butter – literally.
Our next course comes with malt sourdough, served with hand-churned whisky-infused butter.
This is spectacular, and utterly delicious.
But the main event is undoubtedly the beef tenderloin, served with chestnut puree.
I am lucky enough to get to watch this being plated, and the precision and attention to detail from the chef is astonishing.
It feels like witnessing an art performance, watching him meticulously place each quenelle of mustard and sauce onto the plate.
This course, says Dani, is inspired by Speyside and the wildlife all around us.
And as well as the meat, whisky is key.
Even the mustard is flavoured with Macallan, in a sherry seasoned cask.
As is the hollandaise sauce, and the whisky cask gel.
The chestnut puree is rich, earthy and delicious, and pairs beautifully with the tender beef.
There is nothing to fault about this dish. I savoured every bite and would have been tempted to lick the plate were I not at a Michelin Guide restaurant.
Dessert and petit fours at The Macallan Distillery
The dessert is a signature disk at El Celler de Can Roca, TimeSpirit’s sister restaurant.
It’s a Dulce de leche, with a caramel disk at the bottom, a tart cranberry gel, topped with an evaporated milk twirled candy.
This is a sweet, light dish, which is the perfect end to the feast we’ve had so far.
The presentation once again is artful. It felt cruel dipping my spoon into such a pretty plateful.
The tea, coffee and petit fours come next, though none of the tour group have much room for this.
There’s raspberry jellies on a bed of cacao nibs, a little chocolate and nut cluster that Dani says is Macallan’s answer to Ferrero Rocher, and tiny bitesize cranachan rolled in oats and honey.
These are delicious, with my favourite being the raspberry jellies. The texture is spot on and the crunch of the cacao nibs provides that lovely bitter darkness to combat the sweet, tart raspberry.
Verdict:
TimeSpirit at The Macallan Estate offers an amazing tasting menu which left me speechless more than once.
Each element of the dishes I enjoyed during the Mastery Experience took perfection to another level.
And despite the small-looking portions, I was well and truly stuffed by the end of the meal.
The service here was beyond impressive. Not only did our waitress Dani remember a huge script of detail about every dish she served us, she also pre-empted our every need.
She went so far as to neatly fold the napkin of someone at our table when he left it on his chair.
The stunning décor added to the faultless experience. It felt as though we had stepped out of Aberlour and into a Hollywood movie set.
Scores:
Food: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Surroundings: 5/5
Information:
Address: Easter Elchies, Aberlour AB38 9RXA
Tel: 01340 318000
Website: https://www.themacallan.com/en/experience-the-macallan/distillery/timespirit-dining-experience
Disabled access: Fully accessible with an elevator, a wide entrance for easy wheelchair access and accessible toilets.
Dog-friendly: No, except for assistance dogs.
Price: This tasting menu is included in the £250 Mastery Experience. Alternatively, six-course lunch menu is £60 per person, with an additional £55 for paired wines.
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