1945: A Boon for Blends

Both post-war Europe and the US had a healthy appetite for blended whisky. Macallan grew steadily throughout the fifties and sixties, and by 1975, they had made a name for themselves, and were quite sought after as the first choice whisky for blends. Growing demand after the war and beyond allowed the distillery to expand from just two stills in a modest wooden shed, to 21 stills in two stillhouses by the 1970s.

1950s: Vodka Hits the Scene

In the early half of the 20th century, vodka was often considered the choice of excessive drinkers, as it was odorless and inexpensive. But beginning in the 1950s, entertainment seemed to go hand in hand with cocktail making, and a particular drink was taking the world by storm: The Moscow Mule. 

Smirnoff first capitalized on the cocktail, mixing their vodka with ginger beer. The light and refreshing libation won the hearts of home entertainers. This would kick off a decades-long infatuation with party cocktails, which ranged from the simpler vodka mixes to novelty and dessert cocktails like the grasshopper, and on to bright and juicy Tiki drinks. The colorless and odorless spirit lent itself to a creativity in home entertaining that was a signature of the era, giving birth to a number of classic mixes we still know today, as well as lost-to-time, stomach turning concoctions such as “the Bull Shot,” a now-puzzling mix of vodka and warm beef broth. Vodka would keep a healthy hold on the masses through the 1980s, when a clash of cultural proclivities would be the ultimate test of the ‘38 Macallan’s will to survive.