Whisky: Clynelish 25 Year (1983), SMWS 26.58 "Pink Peppercorns and Liquorice Allsorts"

Country/Region: Scotland/Highland

ABV: 51.2%

Cask: Refill Hogshead

Age: 25 Year (Distilled May 1983, Bottled 2009)

Nose: Big herbal spice, olive oil, walnuts, thyme and lemon peel, monkey pod seeds, peppercorn, subtle hints of tar and fresh asphalt on a mellow acrid quality.

Palate: Medium-bodied, coconut oil, waxy, tropical fruit, strawberry cream cheese frosting, white chocolate, subtle rose water and anise, black pepper, wispy tobacco smoke and green apple at the end.

Finish: Long with floral and berry notes between creamy waxy fat.

Score: 7-8

Mental Image: Italian Cooking Demo at the Luau

Narrative & Notes: Big herbal notes arrived with a sachet of fresh herbs from the garden, crushed pine nuts, and nutty olive oil.  Thyme, grapefruit, and lemon peel stood out as earthier elements built up, monkey pod seeds scattered on the ground, dry earth, hints of tractor tires, tar, and fresh asphalt laid down by a distant road crew.  Medium-bodied, the palate was fruit, tropical, and spicy, with an initial wave of coconut oil, fats, and fresh strawberry.  The fats congealed as classic Clynelish waxiness, missing on the nose, appeared on the palate with tropical mountain apples.  Strawberry cream cheese cake frosting came to mind between the creamy-fatty notes and fruit with black pepper, rose water, anise, wispy tobacco smoke, and a touch of green apple at the end.  The finish was long and slightly floral with berries and creamy-waxy fatty notes.

I would never have guessed this was a Clynelish, not after the nose lacked intense fruits or waxiness.  On the palate, the paraffin quality of the malt did come alive on occasion, but it was always closer to the mild nuttiness of olive oil.  The industrial quality on the nose, an oddity for Clynelish in my experience, carried through on the palate, primarily popping with some wispy tobacco smoke at the end.

Overall, unique and nothing like the Clynelish I have had before.  The wife gave it a “4/5 strong potential as a bath scotch,” which is high praise from her indeed.

Image Credit: Whiskybase

About Clynelish

An essential malt. Official distillery releases are accessible and a gateway to the eccentricities of releases from independent bottlers. Releases have been generally available and common, though, at least in the case of independent bottlers, that may have already begun to change as the distillery holds onto more whisky to support its own products during the ongoing whisky boom.

Clynelish opened in 1819, but wait, that is the wrong Clynelish… Imagine there was a distillery called Clynelish, and then a new distillery was built next door, also called Clynelish. That was precisely what happened in 1967 when Clynelish B opened next to Clynelish A, sometimes called Old Clynelish and New Clynelish or Clynelish 1 and 2. The confusing situation did not last long, as Old Clynelish was mothballed in 1968 and reopened to a limited extent in 1969 under the name Brora. However, this was not entirely a new name, as locals had long used it to refer to the old distillery.

The distillery ranks among Scotland's top 25 largest by theoretical capacity. It might very well be getting close to producing 4.8 million liters annually, as the distillery currently operates seven days a week. Even with the constant production, it maintains an 85-hour fermentation regime for the malt, which allows more of the fruitier, sometimes even tropical, flavors to emerge. Notably, Clynelish underwent extensive renovations and refurbishment in 2017, after which some of the waxy character, for which the distillery is well-known, disappeared. After about six months, it came back and within a year was in line with the pre-renovation spirit, so it will be interesting to compare new and old spirit, or malts from the intermediate period in late 2017-early 2018.

Style: Citrus, Honey, Wax, Grassy, occasionally Coastal