Category Archives: Clynelish

Clynelish 16, 1996 (Blackadder)

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Clynelish 16, BlackadderThis Clynelish was purchased and split at the same time as this Glencadam, also bottled by Blackadder. I thought that Glencadam was fine but nothing special. Will this Clynelish be much better? So far I have to say my experience with sherried Clynelish has been mixed. I loved this older one from Chieftain’s bottled for K&L but was less excited about two teenagers from Whiskybroker and Signatory (though I did think the Signatory improved markedly after the bottle had been open for a while). Well, let’s get right to it.

Clynelish 16, 1996 (58.6%; Blackadder Raw Cask; sherry butt #8782; from a bottle split with friends)

Nose: Obviously sherried but not massively so. Salted nuts mixed with raisins, and something a little vegetal/leafy too. Gets brinier as it sits and then darker sherried notes begin to develop: dried orange peel, a bit of toffee. The salt never goes away but it gets more winey with time (without ever becoming off-puttingly winey). After ten minutes or so it gets quite raisiny. Water emphasizes the sherry, and there’s more fruit now (plums). Continue reading →

Clynelish 14, 1997 (BB&R)

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Clynelish 14, 1997

There seems to be a sort of consensus developing that a number of high quality casks of Clynelish distilled in 1997 are about on the market. I’m sure some will or do say that this means that 1997 was a good year at Clynelish. It may well have been, but as I tediously repeat on all such occasions, what it probably really means is that for whatever reason there was a lot more Clynelish available to independent bottlers from the 1997 vintage and so a greater percentage of what got bottled as single malt is likely to have been the pick of what was available. Will this bottle from Berry Bros. & Rudd be one of them?

Clynelish 14, 1997 (55.5%; Berry Bros. & Rudd, casks 4659-61; from a sample received in a swap)

Berry Bros. & Rudd typically don’t specify the cask type but this is almost certainly from bourbon casks of some kind. Also, while the label on the sample bottle says the abv is 56.5%, that’s a transcription error. Continue reading →

Clynelish 14, 1997 (Whiskybroker)

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ClynelishAnother Clynelish. This is from a refill sherry hogshead. That’s a little unusual, as sherry casks are usually butts or puncheons which are much larger than hogsheads. So this would have been a cask remade from a broken down butt or puncheon. You might think that would lead to far more intense sherry flavours (as the spirit has greater wood contact in smaller casks) but this is a refill cask, which might mean its been used anywhere between 2-4 times before. It’s also possible–though I stress that this is pure speculation–that butts/puncheons might be broken down to hogsheads when they get relatively exhausted in order to get one more filling’s worth of flavour extraction out of them. At any rate, as you will see, this is not particularly sherried.
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Clynelish 21, 1990 (Chieftain’s)

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Clynelish
Another Chieftain’s exclusive for K&L, this time a sherried Clynelish. And you’ll be pleased to know that this time David D.’s notes included no problematic content, which saves me from having to go on about it, and saves you from skipping past that part of this post, I mean, reading it very carefully. I’m being ironic, but in truth, I much prefer when the whisky is the only thing drawing my attention.

This was a bottle that I was interested in when it was first announced but as K&L don’t ship to Minnesota I thought I’d have to wait till I was in L.A next to get it and it was sold out by then. I only learned later that I could have purchased it online and had it held for pickup at the Hollywood store. Ah well, it’s not like I have a shortage of whisky on my shelves, and at least I get to taste some now.   Continue reading →

Clynelish 13, 1995 (Signatory CS)

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sigclynelish13Yet another Clynelish. This is from one of those sexy (but not always practical) Signatory CS decanters. Let’s get right to it:

Clynelish 13, 1995 (Signatory, 58.2%, Sherry Butt; from my own bottle)

Nose: Resinous and vegetal (celery?) and quite briny. No raisins or brown sugar or any of the usual signposts of a sherry cask. With a little bit of time the nose becomes almost oppressively salty for a bit but it passes and the nose settles down. Much closer to the Exclusive Malts 15 yo, 1997 now, with a light savoury note. The piney/resinous note never quite goes away. I tried very hard to find some wax, but could not. Ah, but there it is with water (or did I just Jedi mind trick myself?). A few drops of water dial the piney note back a bit and allow darker/sweeter notes to emerge: dried apricots, fruit leather. Now this smells like a whisky matured in a sherry butt, but the sherry notes are still quite restrained. The salt keeps washing in and out.
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Clynelish 15, 1997 (Exclusive Malts)

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emclynelishThis is a bottle I brought back from Los Angeles this week. It was bottled by David Stirk (of the Creative Whisky Co.) in his Exclusive Malts line. I know David just a little bit from a whisky forum we are both members of. He is enthusiastic and likable–which I’m sure disposes me favourably towards his bottlings. This Clynelish is one of nine of his bottlings that represent his entree to the American market. Hitherto, his bottlings have been available largely in the UK and the EU (though I believe he *may* be in the Japanese market as well) and there they are largely in the “good value” band of the pricing spectrum. Of course, with the three-tier system in the US (with importers, distributors and retailers all adding a healthy markup) that’s not quite as true here, at least not with this first consignment.

As per David, this first lot of whiskies are being released only in California; and this Clynelish is retailing a little above $100. I got my bottle from Silver Lake Wine. David is apparently going to be running tastings of his whiskies at a number of LA stores in the coming weeks, including one at Silver Lake Wine, I believe, so if you’re in the LA area you might want to check him out. K&L is also carrying some of this initial consignment but not this Clynelish (presumably because they have their own exclusive cask of Clynelish of similar age and vintage from A.D. Rattray that this would compete with; if you have a bottle of that one and might be interested in swapping a sample from this one, let me know via the “Contact” page above).

On to the whisky.

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Clynelish 16, 1992 (Single Malts of Scotland)

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clynelish16smosClynelish, located in the northern Highlands, is one of the most revered and consistent of all Scottish distilleries. The official distillery output is normally restricted to a 14 year old–one of the most reliably excellent and fairly priced distillery bottlings out there (especially if you can get it in the region of $50)–and a double matured Distiller’s Edition which sees the normal 14 year old “finished” in sherry casks. The distillery’s spirit is also the cornerstone of a number of owner Diageo’s blends, including the million-selling Johnnie Walker line. While this means that it is unlikely to ever be closed it also means that as the demand for Scotch whisky (overwhelmingly in the form of blends) grows in Asian markets and continues to outstrip supply, production of the Clynelish 14 is likely to be constrained and the price therefore susceptible to marked increases (as has already begun to happen with some of Diageo’s other premier malts). So, if you like it a lot, buy a few bottles now and put them away. For now at least, the vast number of casks of Clynelish floating out there among blenders and brokers means that high-quality independent bottlings are not hard to find.

The characteristics most associated with Clynelish’s whisky are a somewhat unique waxiness and a briny quality that may or may not have anything to do with its coastal location (probably not, but it is a romantic thought). Clynelish from ex-bourbon casks, in particular, often also display a minerally fruitiness. The whisky I am reviewing here is a quintessential example of this style. It is from a bourbon barrel that was bottled by the UK retailer, The Whisky Exchange for their Single Malts of Scotland line.

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