
December 2, 2020

Insane Clynelish, a sequel session

Do you know about the whisky ‘writer’s’ Murphy’s law? It’s that as soon as you’re done with a rather large session, new whiskies from the very same distilleries would reach your doorstep right on the next morning. Granted, unless that was Brora. So, last time we ended our session with a glorious 1972 RM, let’s see what we have this time…

Clynelish 1997/2017 (55%, Kingsbury for Or Sileis Taiwan, hogshead, cask #7104, 160 bottles)

Well it’s not that new but it did just reach Château Whiskyfun indeed. There’s ‘the Cauldron of Duke Mao’ on the label. Some kind of giant quaich, perhaps? Colour: gold. Nose: an immediate citrony and waxy attack on your nose, then green apples, lamp petrol and chalk. Let’s cut to the quick here, in those years and in several other eras, Clynelish has been making one of the top ten distillates in the world, all kinds considered, and here it comes unmasked. Even better! With water: a little natural vanilla, bergamot, orange honey, beeswax… Mouth (neat): a little hot but amazing. Citrus, wax and chalk, another great name for a folk-rock band. Some sublime distillate from a well-mannered hogshead, is there a better combination? With water: just exceptional. Please call the Anti-Clynelishporn Brigade, the number is… Well, just look for Dornoch Castle Whisky Bar, Dornoch, Sutherland, Scotland. Finish: that lovely word that, I believe, we haven’t used too often, ‘moreish’. Comments: top-echelon Clynelish.
SGP:562 - 91 points.

Moreish? Be my guest, here’s a sister cask…

Clynelish 1997/2017 (56.3%, Kingsbury for Or Sileis Taiwan, hogshead, cask #7103, 229 bottles)

Clynelish 1997/2017 (56.3%, Kingsbury for Or Sileis Taiwan, hogshead, cask #7103, 229 bottles)
The label showcases a rock that looks like meat, or bacon I would say. Reminds me of calcite or aragonite concretions. Colour: deeper gold. Nose: good fun, this is the same make, just filled into oak that’s been slightly more active. Which would translate into a little more vanilla and butterscotch, but in moderation. Perhaps more herbs as well, even hay… But is this just as perfect? Yes it is. With water: bread, which was all we were asking for. As we sometimes say, pear eau-de-vie should taste like pear, raspberry like raspberry, and whisky like bread (that was the heavily expurgated version). Mouth (neat): sweet Vishnu! This will mature well in a good cellar and become one of the best whiskies ever, around 2040. Twenty + twenty, a sure bet (twenty in wood, twenty in glass). Finish: oh wow, it disappeared from my tasting glass quicker than Harry Houdini, what happened? Comments: one of the best things that ever came out of Scotland, after the Average White Band’s bass lines. Potentially 94+ after a few more years of tranquillity.
SGP:562 - 92 points.

Since we were in Sutherland and were mentioning Dornoch…

Distilled in Sutherland 24 yo 1996/2020 (47.2%, Thompson Bros, refill hogshead, 300 bottles)

I’ve tried some Sutherland honey recently, thanks to some friends up there, and just loved it, although I’m still wondering how the bees manage to fly with all the wind… Colour: gold. Nose: no kidding, manzanilla anada? May we see that hogshead? Just a photograph of the head would suffice… So toasted bread, bergamots, overripe apples, green walnuts, paraffin, yeasty bread, yellow peaches… It sure is a different Clynelish, less straight and more complex, but wow. Some menthol too, teapots of linden tea, verbena… And yep, manzanilla anada (there isn’t much un-solera-ed manzanilla, sadly). Mouth: it is a little more fragile than the 1997s, perhaps a little more on herbal teas, and less on citrus, wax and chalk. Potpourri, jasmine, liquorice, oyster plant, borage… I believe this wonderful albeit unusual profile would go very well with food (indeed, any excuses, anytime). Finish: medium, herbal, with sweet and sour tastes, limejuice, and perhaps a drop of coconut water. Comments: the thing is, these odd casks just cannot be reproduced, and that’s part of the magic. We keep flying extremely high, captain…
SGP:461 - 90 points.

Four of them will be enough, after all this is not Clynelishfun dot com.

Clynelish 24 yo 1995/2019 (49.6%, The Whisky Cask Company, sherry butt, cask #8655, 590 bottles)

Clynelish 24 yo 1995/2019 (49.6%, The Whisky Cask Company, sherry butt, cask #8655, 590 bottles)
In my meagre experience, sherry’s trickier on Clynelish, while indeed natural Clynelish may taste like dry sherry, we just had some example. Let’s see.. Colour: deep amber. Sometimes you think someone should invent a way of solidifying whisky to create beautiful gemstones… Nose: some sweeter North-African dish, with raisins, couscous, dates and apricots. A tajine or something. Light earth, a little mint and a little tea (in the Sahara)? A pack of cigarettes. The Clynelishness is less obvious, but that’s the sherry, not the first time that happens. I’m even finding wee touches of grilled mutton – don’t I need vacations, doc? Mouth: ah, balance, it’s balanced! Clynelish is a big distillate, so sherry shouldn’t bother it too much ‘in theory’, but in my experience, uncontrolled sherrywood – let alone whacky wine casks - would trip many great spirits up. This very one tends to become rather dry and drying, but some unexpected saltiness and all these bouillony notes that just abound here conjugate well. Bovril, Viandox, Maggi, paraffin, bitter oranges, macadamia nuts, a little leather, quite a lot raw black tea… Which gives me an idea, since black tea is meant to burn belly fat… shh… Finish: rather long, but shh… Comments: there were earl grey and raw chocolate from the sherry in the aftertaste. Very good dry Clynelish, one of the best sherried ones in my book.
SGP:372 - 88 points.

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