At first glance, tea and Scotch whisky appear to occupy entirely different worlds. Yet it is precisely this unexpected connection that defines The Macallan Harmony Collection, an annual series of limited-edition single malt Scotch whiskies inspired by nature, craftsmanship and creative collaboration.
For its 2025 release, The Macallan expands the Harmony Collection through a refined partnership with JING, curators of some of the world’s most distinctive single garden teas, exploring the shared philosophies that unite these two time-honoured crafts.
United In Craftsmanship
Both tea and single malt whisky are defined by terroir. Soil composition, climate and altitude shape the character of tea leaves just as profoundly as they influence barley and oak. In each discipline, origin is not a footnote but a defining signature, expressed through aroma, flavour and texture. A single garden tea, like a single malt whisky, tells a story of place.
Time, too, plays a critical role. Tea mastery demands patience — from careful cultivation and harvesting to precise oxidation and drying. Whisky, of course, is shaped by years of maturation, where wood, spirit and environment slowly converge. In both crafts, haste has no place; quality is earned through restraint and respect for process.
A Matter Of Influence
The Macallan’s 2025 Harmony Collection captures this shared sensibility through two limited edition single malts inspired by teas sourced by JING. Inspired By Phoenix Honey Orchid Tea draws on a rare oolong from China’s Phoenix Mountain range, translating its lush dessert wine aromas and exotic fruit character into a whisky of elegance and layered complexity. Predominantly matured in sherry-seasoned American oak casks, with additional European oak influence, the expression reveals notes of honey, stone fruit, tropical fruits and sweet oak.
In contrast, Inspired By Organic Cherrywood Lapsang Tea explores the bolder end of the spectrum. Inspired by JING’s contemporary take on Lapsang Souchong, delicately smoked over cherrywood, the Global Travel Retail exclusive offers a richer, more intense profile shaped primarily by sherry-seasoned European oak casks.
Beyond flavour, both crafts are bound by ritual. Tea ceremonies and whisky tasting traditions alike invite reflection, attentiveness and shared experience. To mark the collaboration, The Macallan introduces a refined pairing ritual inspired by the Chinese Gong Fu tea ceremony, honouring the artistry and intention behind both disciplines.
Completing the narrative, sustainability remains central to the Harmony Collection, with presentation cases crafted from repurposed waste tea leaves. It is a fitting expression of a collaboration rooted not in novelty, but in a genuine meeting of philosophies — proving that tea and Scotch whisky have far more in common than one might first imagine.
