
December 6, 2016

Two Clynelish for Sylvain

My nose isn’t back to normal yet, but I wanted to pay tribute to my departed friend Sylvain. His favourite distillery used to be Lochside, but as I haven’t got any Lochside left in WF’s untried-sample library, we’ll have one of my own preferred distilleries instead. Dear Sylvain, this little session is for you.

Clynelish 18 yo 1997/2016 (54.3%, Archives, hogshead, cask #12357, 223 bottles)

Both the bottler and the vintage do have excellent reputations, so what could go wrong? Colour: straw. Nose: it seems that this is a pretty chalky/citrusy nose, with some grapefruit, clay, limestone, flints… In short, quite a blade. As far as I can tell. With water: muddy waters and some softer citrus. Perhaps tangerines? Mouth (neat): really sharp, in the better sense of that word, hyper acidic and mineral, and rather totally in the style of those blade-y Sancerres. And it seems that you just crunched a piece of chalk (knowing that when your nose is practically out of order, your palate’s barely functional). With water: gets a little grassier, it seems, and a tad rougher. Finish: rather long, with some grassy bitterness as well as the usual chalky lemons, but some tangerines are back in the aftertaste. Comments: certainly irrefutable. SGP:462 – probably between 88 and 90 points.

Clynelish 26 yo 1990/2016 (45.3%, Cadenhead, Authentic Collection, bourbon barrel, 258 bottles)

This baby might be waxier than the 1997. Colour: white wine. Nose: one of these Islayesque batches, with echoes of old ‘phroaig. Or so it seems. A little creosote and a few bandages, then the expected waxed fabrics, linoleum, and clay, with a layer of mandarin jelly. Love mandarin jelly. Mouth: some plasticine for a start (yes, or so it seems) and then waxed… err, stuff, and lemon squash, while it tends to plateau a bit after two seconds, but then again, that may be me. Well, that’s probably me. Not the biggest Clynelishy middle ever, in any case. Finish: perhaps a little short for Cynelish, but the medicinal part really makes it special. Lime and tonic water in the slightly evanescent (for Clynelish) aftertaste. Apparently. Comments: a seemingly slightly deviant Clynelish, extremely hard to score when your nasal appendix is rather deficient. SGP:362 - ?? points.

Fly well and far, Sylvain!

Check the index of all Clynelish I've tasted so far