It’s been a long time since I last reviewed a Clynelish. That was my review of the 10 yo that was part of the Diageo’s Special Release lineup in 2023. It’s not been quite as long since my review of a whisky from the Whisky Agency, the renowned German independent bottler who were all the rage when this whisky was released back in 2013. I reviewed one of their Laphroaigs last year. That one was released around the same time as this—in 2012 or 2013. With hindsight, that period was the last burst of the last years of the golden age of whisky (from the middle-class customer’s point of view): very good whisky from the years of over-production was available from a number of distilleries for reasonable prices, especially from the independents, who had their pick of excellent casks. If you were getting a whisky from a cask bottled by indies such as the Whisky Agency or Malts of Scotland, you could be fairly confident that it would be very good. Now, I have no idea what the indie scene is like, as I’ve stopped following the whisky scene completely, and barely buy anything as I try to drink my stash down before my nose/tastebuds deteriorate or I die. On that happy note, let’s get to my notes on this sherry cask Clynelish.

Clynelish 16, 1997 (50.4%; The Whisky Agency; sherry hogshead; from my own bottle)

Nose: A little spirity and spicy at first and then there’s honey, toasted wheat, and some very lightly toasted oak. With a little more time there’s some pear, maybe a bit of peach; later still, the fruit turns to citrus—somewhere between orange and lemon—and the oak gets spicier. A few drops of water and the spirity notes and the oak are gone and some of the sweeter fruit is back along with some floral notes.

Palate: More acid here but otherwise comes in as indicated by the palate. A very good drinking strength; good texture. Water pushes the oak back here too and pulls out more citrus.

Finish: Medium-long. The toasted oak expands a bit here and the fruit turns to lemon. Salt at the end along with white pepper. The finish gets longer with water. The white pepper expands along with the citrus.

Comments: This is not a sherry bomb by any means, which would suggest—given that it was a small cask—that it was a refill hogshead. On the other hand, the oak does a lot of talking at first, which would seem to imply a more active cask. At any rate, with time, and especially water, the oak backs off (or switches entirely to the white pepper note) and things improve dramatically. I think I added a bit too much water to this pour, which was the fourth from the bottle. The previous pour had responded even better to water. Will keep experimenting as the bottle stays open.

Rating: 88 points.