Angus picks a pair of Signatory Clynelish


January 6, 2018

The Whiskyfun general
annual meeting
(that would be just Angus and yours truly)

Session 7, Angus picks… A Pair Of Signatory Clynelish

Always a pleasure to taste Clynelish, especially here at Whiskyfun towers. We’ve already had many, many excellent ones by Signatory, so expectations are well primed...

Clynelish 18 yo 1998/2016 (43%, Signatory Vintage, #7781, hogshead)

We rather like that they’re still using this humble livery after all these years. Colour: Pale white wine. Nose: Shy to begin, then a rather abundant and classical waxiness. Serge finds muddy grains, damp earth, clay, lemon wax, porridge and lemon oil. Goes on with green tobacco, Bidi Indian cigarettes and lots of sooty qualities. Apple skins, lime juice and also I find a little rosewater and Turkish delight. Very pleasant. Mouth: Clean, sooty and waxy at first with many of these classical notes of sandalwood, lemon skins and white flowers. It’s so good that Serge managed to take a large sip and nearly died. He eventually recovers enough to find waxy grapefruits and fresh barley grown near the seashore, and I’ll add a little mint tea. Finish: Decent length, rather biscuity with a little crusty saltiness and a few crushed herbs and damp earth. A wee coastal flourish in the aftertaste. Comments: Another dependably delicious wee Clynelish from Signatory. The kind of bottle which can be rather dangerous if you’re not careful.
SGP: 452 - 85 points (Serge 85)

Clynelish 21 yo 1995/2017 (54.7%, Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange, refill sherry butt, #8676, 544 bottles)

Colour: light amber. Nose: again rather classical Clynelish wax but wrapped up in some butterscotch and fudge from the sherry. A little bonfire smoke and some seashore freshness. Serge adds dried kelp, perhaps a drop of Moscatel and some kind of mentholy flambéed bananas. I’d also add a few drops of cough medicine and a little motor oil. Also an old tobacco curing barn and an increasingly mentholated aspect, notes of eucalyptus tea and crushed mint leaf. A few cloves and some olive oil. With water: Weetabix, runny honey and as usual a bit more earth and a few more mushrooms. Last years apples declares Serge. Mouth (neat): tobacco and chocolate, smoking a nice Cuban cigar in a nice club while chomping down After Eight mints and listening to the clock on the wall ticking (Serge goes to rather different bars than I do it seems). Some fig jam, star anise, aged Cointreau, rather sweeter than expected, but not cloying. A little milk chocolate and muesli, maybe not of the ‘wax heavy’ batches. With water: again more honeyed, some lighter green fruits such as apples, pears and mirabelles, gentle waxiness. Serge adds Jaffa Cakes, blood oranges and a wee wink of rancio. Finish: Good length, more fruits, wax, light chocolate, earth, still glimmers of rancio and again this elegant sweetness. Comments: A slightly sweeter Clynelish than usual, but it’s a rather elegant and natural sweetness that we think works rather well. Highly drinkable stuff, even when unreduced.
SGP: 552 88 points (Serge 88)

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