| |
Home
Thousands of tastings,
all the music,
all the rambligs
and all the fun
(hopefully!)
Whiskyfun.com
Guaranteed ad-free
copyright 2002-2017
|
 |
|
| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
| |
|
| |
| |
May 20, 2019 |
|
  |
And so they did a Clynelish ‘Game Of Thrones’! To me, that’s equivalent to a Patek Philippe ‘Nigel Farage’, a Cheval Blanc ‘Kim Kardashian’, or a Zind Humbrecht Rangen de Thann ‘Dan Quayle’ (please, don’t!) I had thought the Lagavulin GOT was okayish, but I’ve heard this Clynelish was better. But first the 14 that we haven’t tried since a few years, and perhaps a few other ‘lishes after the two OBs. |
|
Clynelish 14 yo (46%, OB, +/-2019) 
I used to think they had much improved the recipe over the years. I wasn’t a fan of the early releases, but the recent ones used to cruise along the 86/76-line. Colour: gold. Nose: starts a little sour (cider) and even vinous, all that being pretty nice, before it gets waxier, as expected. There’s quite some vanilla too, some coal smoke, a little sea water, and then some smoked ham or even sausages (or Landjäger), something I hadn’t encountered before. I mean, in the official 14. The vanilla’s a little bolder too, I think. More rejuvenated wood? Mouth: good! Once again it is a little smokier, perhaps a tad bitterer too, salty and briny, with oranges, ginger, turmeric, hints of gin (they could do martinis), and then some vanilla again. The smoky waxiness kept the lead, but I would say this OB’s globally more ‘vanilla-ed’ than most, if not all indies. Finish: long, beautifully bitter. Campari (and gin). Some kind of readymade Negroni from Brora. Comments: no quibble here, even if I like them even clearer and cleaner.
SGP:362 - 87 points. |
|
Clyne(cough)lish (cough) Reserve ‘Game Of (cough) Thrones’ (51.2%, OB (cough), 2019) 
NAS and from the ‘House Tyrrel’, apparently. I didn’t know Uncle Ken had started some whisky business, did Jackie Stewart give him that idea? Colour: gold. Nose: clearly more oak than in the 14. Sawn wood, branches, a Saturday morning at IKEA, then limestone and concrete, grated dry coconut, paraffin and rusks. The jury’s still out. With water: vanilla and bananas. Typical fresh American oak. Mouth (neat): modern and quite good. Sweet oak, vanilla, paraffin, beeswax, lavender sweets (it’s got a Bowmore-y side indeed), then sadly, some much drier and bitterer oak. And cinnamon mints. I don’t know if the Tyrrels are villains, but this is certainly not the subtlest Clynelish ever. With water: the oak in the back feels too much for me. Finish: rather long but bitter. Green pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg. Comments: so, are the Tyrrels villains? As far as Clynelish is concerned, I’m sorry but this is not exactly my thing. Reminds me a bit of the late 1970s vintages.
SGP:461 - 78 points. |
Let’s check a few indies if you don’t mind, starting with a young one… |
|
Clynelish 2008/2019 (53.3%, Riegger’s Selection, Ice wine cask finish, cask #800191, 294 bottles)
What, ice wine? Canadian ice wine? We can’t use that appellation in the EU anymore because of some kind of trade deal, if I’m not mistaken. Colour: gold. Nose: you do find apricots indeed, which makes this wee Clynelish much softer and rounder than usual. More honeyed too, pleasantly herbal (lime blossom, honeysuckle), a wee tad mentholy, and with touches of easy sweet wine. Monbazillac, perhaps. With water: sweet oak, melon, banana, custard. Mouth (neat): it’s pretty. Not really Clynelish, but pretty. Some sour custard, apricot jam, pear juice, more Monbazillac, then a green spiciness from the wood. Maybe European oak. With water: same profile, plus a little liquorice wood. Plums. Finish: medium, just as apricoty. Some green tea. Comments: I would have said cask strength Glenmorangie. It’s true that both distilleries are neighbours, somehow. So not very Clynelish, but pretty pretty good.
SGP:551 - 85 points. |
|
Clynelish 25 yo 1993/2018 (47.7%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #26.125, ‘Valentin’s Moustache Wax’, refill bourbon barrel, 175 bottles)
What Valentin’s moustache wax? It’s more and more obvious to me that they’ve smoked all their carpets, at the Vaults. Because I never use any moustache wax, mind you (isn’t that rather you, Charlie?) Let’s make this clear, I am not involved in this botting in any way, they’ve just used my name while I was busy elsewhere. Colour: white wine. Nose: it is a funny one, at that. Pointed cabbage, vase water, sweet mustard, manzanilla, old pears, heather honey, old dry muscat, a drop of vegetable bouillon, also a drop of miso soup (with bean curd)… And, how scandalous, no moustache wax whatsoever! And my lawyer who’s on vacation… Mouth: it is a loco Clynelish, indeed. More vegetables, lime juice, sour soups and juices, a touch of soap, some salted broth, Maggi… Actually, I’m wondering, isn’t this rather Glenturret? Or Tullibardine? Some salted caramel, a little pipe juice, artichokes… Now it grows on you, it’s just very unusual, and bizarrely salty. Split pea sausage soup. Never thought you could bring all this out of a bourbon barrel. Finish: rather long, a tad more leathery, waxier, with more paraffin and bitter oils. Comments: canned soup. Extremely hard to score. I’ll say 85 but it is kind of unparalleled in its salty oddness. I’m asking you, what can I do?
SGP:362 - 85 points. |
Break! But we’ll be back with more Clynelish… |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
