
May 21, 2020

Two little Clynelish at 48%

And why not? Because by rule, there ought to be some Clynelish every month on little WF! Even if that’s only two of them…

Clynelish 8 yo 2011/2020 ‘Reserve Cask Parcel No.2’ (48%, Elixir Distillers)

Clynelish 8 yo 2011/2020 ‘Reserve Cask Parcel No.2’ (48%, Elixir Distillers)
It is well known that just like this little taster, the fine people at Elixir ‘etcetera’ do hate Clynelish. The label tells us that this one stemmed from five casks, and that the angel’s share has been of 14.73%. Which, I believe, is okay. Colour: straw. Nose: ah cool, a bready Clynelish! It’s really a baby Clynelish, more on pear juice, muesli and porridge than on waxes and citrus. A pack of Haribo’s finest, some grist, some white beer, some liquorice, a drop of malt extract, some menthol… Well, it’s pretty simple, but it just keeps moving. I told you, a child… Mouth: lovely, and indeed still in its infancy, with its usual character not yet fully developed. Juicy fruit, muesli, pear juice, prosecco (and? What’s the problem?) biscuit… Now after five minutes, some Clynelishness is starting to appear, with some kinds of waxy citrons perhaps… Even some paraffin. We’re getting there, once the pears will have given up it’ll be 100% Clynelish. A very personal theory you see, please do not take it too seriously, but you could almost say that aging whisky consists in getting rid of pear notes. I know, I know… Finish: the best part, it’s now almost 90% Clynelish, with lemons, candle wax et al. Hope they’ve kept quite some casks for the coming years; well I’m sure they have. The precursors are well in place, which bodes well for the future of this parcel of casks. Four more years? Seven? Comments: as I just said.
SGP:641 - 87 points.

Clynelish 23 yo 1996/2020 (48.7%, Maltbarn, bourbon, 170 bottles)

Very lovely photograph of a boy with a raven – is it well a raven? - on his shoulder. Profound, ‘schwarz’ and very German in that respect. Colour: straw. Nose: it is a gentler Clynelish this time again, but things change after just thirty seconds, with some wood smoke coming through, then green apples and paraffin, then some tense kiwi and rhubarb, sour beer, muesli from Oberallgäu (don’t bother, just a personal nod) and finally honeycomb. Impeccable. Mouth: impeccable indeed. Pure waxy Clynelish, with citrus and green apples, as well as green spices and fresh bread. I hope you’ve noticed that I’ve decided to keep this one short (more time for enjoying the dram!) Finish: long, superb, totally Clynelish. Love the touch of salt in the aftertaste, and the feeling of margarita. A margarita from Sutherland! Comments: this one’s playing on my soft heart, which always works.
SGP:552 - 90 points.

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