What Is Valdespino? The Jerez Bodega Behind the New Macallan TIME : SPACE

Valdespino is a sherry bodega in Jerez de la Frontera with wine trade recorded under its name from 1430, now part of Grupo Estévez, in which The Macallan bought a 50% stake in 2023. Its sherry seasons the oak casks used for the new Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask, a 20 Years Old single malt at 44.8% ABV married in the first 200 Valdespino casks filled during the 2024 bicentenary.

Key Takeaways

• Valdespino is a sherry bodega in Jerez de la Frontera. Records show wine trade under its name from 1430, and it became an official supplier to the Spanish royal household in 1883.

• It has been one of three bodegas under Grupo Estévez, alongside Marqués del Real Tesoro and La Guita, since 1999.

• The Macallan, owned by Edrington, bought a 50% stake in Grupo Estévez in March 2023, its first move into sherry production itself.

• Three more deals followed by September 2024: full ownership of the Vasyma cooperage, a joint venture for American oak, and a 50% share of the new Tevasa Forestal Group.

• The new release, Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask, is a 20 Years Old at 44.8% ABV, married in the first 200 Valdespino sherry seasoned casks filled during the 2024 bicentenary.

• It is listed for preorder on Spiritory, alongside two magazine features that cover the bottle itself in more detail.

Tip: A Macallan label naming sherry seasoned oak casks does not by itself say which bodega supplied the sherry. Check the release's own tasting notes or press material, since The Macallan now sources casks from more than one partner in Jerez.

Valdespino's Story Begins With a 1264 Land Grant in Jerez

In 1264, King Alfonso X of Castile took Jerez de la Frontera during the Reconquista. Among the knights who fought alongside him, according to the bodega's own history, was Don Alfonso Valdespino, who received land in the area. Records show wine trade under the Valdespino name in Jerez by 1430. The business became a joint stock company, A.R. Valdespino, in 1875, and in 1883 it became an official purveyor to the Spanish royal household.

In 1932, Valdespino added the Swedish royal house as a client too. In 2013, Wine & Spirits magazine named Valdespino among the 100 best wineries in the world. Grupo Estévez has run the bodega since 1999, and that ownership is where the Macallan story begins.

Valdespino Is One of Three Bodegas Under Grupo Estévez

The Estévez family bought Valdespino in 1999. Today it sits alongside Marqués del Real Tesoro and Hijos de Rainera Pérez Marín, maker of La Guita manzanilla, under Grupo Estévez, led by chief executive José Ramón Estévez. The group describes itself as the largest vineyard owner in Andalusia, and Valdespino's own vineyards in the Pago de Macharnudo are considered among the finest sites in Jerez.

Among Valdespino's named wines is the Inocente, a fino honoured as the region's best at the International Wine Challenge, and the Tío Diego, another wine from the same historic range.

The Macallan Took a 50 Percent Stake in Grupo Estévez in 2023

In March 2023, The Macallan, owned by the drinks group Edrington, bought a 50% stake in Grupo Estévez. The deal formed a joint venture for the exclusive use of Valdespino sherry to season casks, the first time Grupo Estévez had used its sherry this way. Igor Boyadjian, managing director of The Macallan, called it a continuation of the distillery's relationship with the Jerez sherry industry, while Grupo Estévez CEO José Ramón Estévez remained part of the leadership team.

As a result, Valdespino joined the Edrington portfolio alongside Highland Park whisky, The Famous Grouse and Brugal rum.

Three More Deals Built a Full Cask Supply Chain

The Macallan followed with three more moves in the sherry cask supply chain. In September 2023, it bought the Vasyma cooperage in Jerez outright, a business that had supplied The Macallan and Edrington with casks for more than 30 years, and formed a joint venture with the Ohio based Coopers Oak for American oak staves. In September 2024, during The Macallan's 200th anniversary year, it took a 50% share in the newly formed Tevasa Forestal Group, combining the Tevasa cooperage in Jerez with two sawmills in northern Spain.

The Spirits Business, the trade title that reported each deal, described the completed network as giving The Macallan the deepest involvement of any Scotch whisky company in the production of sherry seasoned casks. Casks made under these partnerships today will not be ready to fill whisky until the 2040s, since the wood itself needs years of seasoning and toasting before it can mature spirit.

Seasoning a Cask Is Not the Same as Selling Sherry

Sherry seasoning and bottled sherry are two different products, even when they come from the same bodega. The sherry that fills a cask destined for whisky maturation is made to condition the wood, then poured out again once the cask is ready to be shipped and filled with whisky. It is not the finished wine that a bodega sells to drinkers.

For The Macallan's casks, Valdespino makes a bespoke recipe developed with the distillery, one that sits outside the designated sherry styles, which is why the whisky's label reads sherry seasoned oak casks rather than naming oloroso or any other style. Once the seasoning sherry has done its work on the wood, it does not go to waste. The Macallan has said the same wine is later used to make Valdespino Vermouth Origen.

The New Release Draws on the First 200 Seasoned Casks

The new release, Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask, is a 20 Years Old single malt bottled at 44.8% ABV, married in the first 200 Valdespino sherry seasoned casks filled during the 2024 bicentenary. Kirsteen Campbell, The Macallan's master whisky maker, has called it the first whisky influenced by casks seasoned with the distillery's own Valdespino sherry, shaped by two separate interactions with sherry seasoned oak on its journey from Speyside to Jerez and back. Lead whisky maker Euan Kennedy has described it as the first deliberate effort to build a Macallan entirely on Valdespino casks, rather than including them as part of a wider inventory, as the distillery has done since 1973.

It is presented in a circular decanter, the design that has run through the TIME : SPACE collection since 2024, though unlike Mastery, this bottle carries an age statement. Full details of the release, including where to see it and how the two bottlings compare, are covered in 7 Things to Know About the Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask and How Does the Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask Compare to Mastery?

Tip: Owning a cask supplier does not guarantee every future release names it. Read the tasting notes or press material for each new Macallan bottling to confirm whether Valdespino, Vasyma or Tevasa casks were actually used.

FAQ

What is Valdespino?

Valdespino is a sherry bodega in Jerez de la Frontera with wine trade recorded under its name from 1430. It has been part of Grupo Estévez since 1999, alongside Marqués del Real Tesoro and La Guita.

Does The Macallan own Valdespino?

The Macallan bought a 50% stake in Grupo Estévez, Valdespino's parent company, in March 2023. Grupo Estévez remains led by CEO José Ramón Estévez, and the deal gives The Macallan exclusive use of Valdespino sherry for cask seasoning.

What makes the Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask different?

It is a 20 Years Old single malt at 44.8% ABV, married in the first 200 Valdespino sherry seasoned casks filled during the 2024 bicentenary, and it is the first Macallan built entirely on Valdespino casks.

Why doesn't the label say oloroso?

The sherry that seasons the casks is a bespoke recipe made for The Macallan, and it sits outside the designated sherry styles, so the label reads sherry seasoned oak casks instead.

Where can I buy it?

The bottle is listed for preorder on Spiritory, a bid and ask marketplace for spirits based in Munich that ships within the EU, where buyers pay a 3% buyer protection fee plus shipping.