November 6, 2015

Long leash Clynelish, Part Two

We’re going on with Clynelish. Yesterday we’ve liked the expensive new Special Release a lot (WF 90) but maybe shall we find one’s that’s even more to our liking, let’s try…

Clynelish 21 yo 1992/2014 (49.8%, La Maison du Whisky, Jam Session #3, bourbon hogshead, cask #1510/9)

Jazz and Clynelish, a great sounding combination, am I not right? And the Vanguard/Blue Note style label just clicks on me. Great pastiche work, not far from my favourite recent whisky label. Now in my experience, 1992 was lighter, less waxy vintage, let’s see… Colour: gold. Nose: indeed, this is rather akin to neighbouring Glenmorangie at first nosing, only a tad grassier. Apple compote, baked oranges, gooseberries, a little olive oil, husk, brioche… So indeed a lighter, more elegant style. For your lounge rather than for the hipflask. Mouth: a notch more ‘Clynelish’, with touches of wax indeed, but other than that, it’s a rather light, slightly oily, fruity and barleyish malt whisky. Orange and apple cakes, drops of maple syrup, a floral side… It’s greatly balanced and greatly elegant, just not totally ‘Clynelish’. Finish: yeah and as that sometimes happen, the finish just proves me wrong. In this case, there’s much more salt, and much more grass than in Clynelish’s lighter neighbours, up there. And the aftertaste is very Clynelish, and just wonderful. Salty butter, waxes, orange skin, and tobacco. Comments: superb, and interestingly different. Very complex whisky. SGP:452 - 88 points (98 for the label!)

Clynelish 18 yo 1996/2014 (52.7%, The Whisky Agency, for Taiwan, refill butt, 360 bottles)

The Whisky Agency, long time no see! Colour: gold. Nose: do you know Rudolph Lindt? Did you know he was the manager at Clynelish around 1996? Only half joking, this is as chocolaty as whisky can be. We’re not talking oloroso-ed dark chocolate, we’re talking Lindt’s milk chocolate, creamy, buttery, soft, and rather nutty/vanilled. I’m not a huge fan of sherried Clynelish, but I have to say these refill casks can make wonders. Very nice touches of gunpowder, dried mushrooms, and tobacco. So far so nice. With water: great. Mushrooms and ev’rything that comes with them. You know, pine needles, earth, mud, moss, parsley… Yes, parsley! Mouth: wow, excellent! Some parts remind me of the old 1965s and 1966s by Cadenhead for Italy, with this stony, gamy, and leathery style. Perfect bitter oranges in the background, and always this salty touch. And rocks, stones, and gravel. Impressed. With water: yess. Tobacco, earthy pu-erh tea, bitter oranges, and a touch of ginger and Campari. Finish: perfect, long, with more pepper and ginger, perhaps two raisins, and always this waxy smoke. Very mentholy retro-olfaction, which is cool. Toothpaste ;-). Comments: I often find sherry and Clynelish don’t sing in tune, but when they do, the end result can be magnificent. That’s the case here, even dear Ornette would have approved. SGP:362 - 91 points.

Sherry and Clynelish, let’s try again, and go to the extremes…

Clynelish 16 yo 'Darkness' (54.9%, Master of Malt, Oloroso Cask Finish, 2014)

It is to remember that this slightly unlikely brew got great silver at the Malt Maniacs Awards 2014. All 100% blind, no categories that give everything away. You know, like Skye, 10 yo, 45.8% and all that. Yeah, blind tasting… Excuse me? We’re running late? I know, I know… Colour: pale amber, so not that dark, hehe… Nose: cigars. And cigars. Plus cigars. And perhaps a little tarmac, soot, old walnuts, and fresh concrete. Forgot to mention dried porcinis and Grisons meat – or Bresaola. With water: hay, mud, cured ham, tobacco, saltpetre, more hay. Mouth (neat): I hate it that I quite enjoy this heavy, slightly stuffy concoction. Bitter chocolate, walnut wine, oloroso indeed, tobacco, bitter oranges, pickled ginger, pepper, leather… With water: same, only a notch grassier, with a limy backbone. Finish: long, and quite curiously, fresher and zestier, with more lemons. Comments: excellent. Once again, sherry+Clynelish worked. Maybe be was I totally wrong… SGP:462 - 87 points.

Clynelish 18 yo 1997/2015 (53.3%, Wilson & Morgan, Barrel Selection, Tokaji wood, cask #6493)

Okay I’ll say it, some of the worst (excuse me, my least favourite) whiskies I’ve ever tasted had been matured, or rather finished in Tokay/Tokaji. There’s no sweeter wine than Tokay, and while the best ones are fabulous, others are just too sugary and cloying, in my opinion. Which will just wreck a 1974 Ardbeg, if you ask me. But let’s move on… Colour: gold. Nose: it’s not in the nose that problems occur. In this case it’s quite lovely, rounded and sweet, like nosing your mirabelle jam while having breakfast early in the morning. Or something like that. Having said that it’s not the Clynelishest Clynelish ever so far. With water: f***k, this works. More overripe mirabelles, plus some chamomile tea and ‘nosing a 500g-jar of all-flower pollen’. Mouth (neat): LOL! You get the Tokay, and mirabelles, and zwetschke, and maybe even quince jelly, plus maybe even some honeycomb – which does, indeed, include some wax – but I would not hope anybody would say ‘this is Clynelish’. Except the good people at Wilson & Morgan, of course. But if you like mirabelles – and golden sultanas - you’ll like this. With water: gets thick as the thickest jam. It’s silly, I think I never experienced this, to this extent. Where’s my silver spoon? Eating mirabelle jam while your spouse isn’t watching… What’s great is that no oaky off-notes are playing the killjoys, so all is fine. Finish: long, and curiously lighter, with some lemonade. I’m not saying this is light whisky. Comments: please give me a minute to gather my thoughts... Good, I hate it, and I love it. In fact, I hate it that I love it, but the lack of Clynelishness will prevent me from going to 90 and north. So (ha, the Italians)… SGP:751 - 89 points.

Another go at a 1992, and let’s make it strong!...

Clynelish 22 yo 1992/2014 (62.1%, Blackadder, Raw Cask, hogshead, 190 bottles)

Wait wait wait, I owe you another quote from Black Adder. How about this one: ‘There hasn't been a war run this badly since Olaf the hairy, King of all the Vikings, ordered 80,000 battle helmets with the horns on the inside.’ Right, I may have published that one before. Colour: gold. Nose: I’m sure Olaf The Hairy would have approved, since I’m sure this would kill any enemy. There is a waxy/fruity Clynelishness, but other than that, this would just send you to the Whallalha (however that thing is spelled). With water: ci-vi-li-za-tion! Quite. Honeycomb, overripe apples, cakes, grapefruit jelly. Some limestone too, but I wouldn’t call this ‘a mineral Clynelish’. Mouth (neat): it’s great. Someone’s pouring liquid wax into your throat. I couldn’t tell you much more, but it’s a great feeling. And now excuse me, but I need to add water… With water: exactly the same feeling of sipping Glenmorangie as with the jazzy 1992. Apple pie covered with honey and butter cream. Finish: quite long, very fruity, very orchardy. Oily feeling, like if you just drank sunflower oil. Comments: so not very Clynelish, but very good, smooth, malt whisky. Yep, when diluted. SGP:551 - 85 points.

By the way...

since we’ve just tried one excellent Clynelish by Master of Malt, I’ve just got an idea (oh, no!) Indeed, I guess we’ve all got several friends and family whom we’d like to convert to the wonders of whisky, but we all know that presenting them with a good bottle is extremely tricky. Will they enjoy this Ardbeg or that Clynelish, given that they’re beginners? There’s nothing more embarrassing than to notice that the bottle you presented them with last year is still standing in the drinks cabinet, 2/3 full (yeah, and YOU drank that third). On the other hand, as a connoisseur, you just wouldn’t want to give them one of these smooth, easy-easy whiskies that we hate, just because they’re too easy, precisely. So, what to do?
I think a great idea would be to present them with a very smart Advent Calendar that we could make ourselves using our own stash and cheap baby socks or something. Or, alternatively, order the ones that some good people such as Master of Malt are making since a few years, plus a great book such as the Malt Whisky Yearbook, or Dave Broom’s World Atlas of Whisky, to add knowledge to pleasures. I’ve got Master of Malt’s current Whisky Calendar, for example, and tore it apart for the sake of research – I know, I do not respect anything – and to check all what’s inside. I have to say it’s well composed, very well composed, and it is not a basic set at all, it’s even rather ‘advanced’. For example, on Dec 1, you have Gl… No I won’t tell you. And on December 24, wow! Really, wow! Only little problem, since it’s an Advent Calendar, you can’t quite use it as a Christmas gift. Unless you do your gifts early in the season, ‘for good reasons’. I’ll probably do that myself.