
April 17, 2018

Clynelish 12 young and old

A quick session with co-tasters Angus and Emmanuel who just happen to be in Alsace today – for wine reasons of course. I did not have to twist their arms too much to choose Clynelish, as you can never have too much Clynelish (WF's law).

Clynelish 12 yo 2005/2018 (55.1%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength, refill sherry butt, batch #18/012)

This is G&M’s brand new ‘streamlined’ livery for this range, perhaps are they aligning with the rest of the industry a bit? Colour: gold. Nose: very buttery and nutty, with orange oils, cocktail bitters, butterscotch, cornflakes, and a slightly sour side (Gueuze beer). With water: improves (although it would go very hazy very quickly, showing that it’s a very oily distillate, although that often happens with anything G&M), with yellow flowers, mirabelles, even mirabelle eau-de-vie (which cannot be bad) orange blossom, pollen… Much nicer with water. Mouth (neat): sweet and bonbony, with Jaffa cakes, a little bit of Nutella, a Fanta-y side, some caraway, aquavit, tobacco… We don’t find it very Clynelishy we have to say. Milk stout says Angus. With water: once again it improves quite a lot, getting much better, with this orange-y waxiness, orange juice, Angus says you could make an Old Fashioned out of this very easily. Emmanuel shrugs with a French accent, then says that the Clynelish style appears with water. Finish: medium, rather more lemony than orange-y, with touches of turmeric, the aftertaste being very grapefruity. Pith. Comments: very good, but needs water. The distillate was elusive at first but with water we struck Clynelish.
SGP:451 – 84 points.

Clynelish 1971/1984 (no ABV, Gordon & MacPhail, sample bottle for Italy, cask #3842, warehouse #2)

We’ve never seen this one bottled, so maybe did they blend it away. Colour: pale gold. Nose: oooh (Angus says yeah). Pure wax, beach pebbles, chalk, paraffin, daisies, struck flints (smoke), almost like a chenin. It does have an Old Clynelish character, although the whole is rather mellower. What we don’t find, and which was in, for instance, the 1972s, are the tropical fruits. This one’s straighter, with a blade-like quality. With water: more citrus, lemon peel, preserved lemons, and seawater. Limestone and of course, wax. Mouth (neat): extremely intense, it’s very Clynelish, textural, fatty, with loads of camphor, hessian, earth and floor, and a white fruit side, perhaps litchis. Touches of Szechuan pepper over a gravely character. Powerful minerality. Amazing whiskies… With water: if you could mix olive oil, wax, and lemon juice. Pure distillate character (Angus says it’s almost Scottish grappa). Emmanuel says it’s not whisky for just anyone, at least not a whisky for beginners. Let’s say it’s not totally consensual. Finish: long, fat, waxy, with a little pepper and orange peel. Some hay as well. Comments: brilliant, just still a bit not totally integrated at 12/13 yo. Not that this matters, but so, G&M, where’s the cask? Still in Elgin?
SGP:462 – 92 points.

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