CLYNELISH 1984 26.90 'ELEGANT, SUBTLE, BALANCED - IN TOTAL HARMONY' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

Heading back up north of Inverness to the village of Brora for these next 2 reviews from the (new) Clynelish Distillery - first up a bottling of a 1984 - that has spent its life maturing in a refill sherry butt, but with a minimum of influence IMO, but still enough to get to carry the name of 'Elegant, subtle, balanced - in total harmony...'

Across the road from the running Clynelish Distillery is the old buildings, renamed Brora Distillery after the village - this was done as the Scotch Whisky Association wouldn't allow 2 distilleries with the same name and both running at the same time, so for a while the 2 distilleries was names Clynelish A and Clynelish B. The old distillery on the right side of the road was then renamed Brora and produced for about 14 years (a bit unclear) but was eventually shut down in 1983. Bottlings from there - especially the ones from the 70's where they did peated batches, is now much sought after.




The old Clynelish -now Brora- Distillery, 4th August 2009 © The Malt Desk

Clynelish 1984 26.90 (28.11.1984/xx.xx.2012) 27yo 'Elegant, subtle, balanced - in total harmony' 55,1%, Refill sherry butt, 508 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is light straw

Nose:
Flinty, gravel, minerals, lemon and honey, pepper, waxy and apples

Taste:
Honeycomb, very spicy yet sweet, oils and salt, again lemons, but with a more baked note to it and then loads of banana - not natural though but the stuff you usually find in candy. Finishes on heavy malt juice, natural caramel and a tongue tickling mild oak spiciness.

Another great Clynelish! Just goes to show how this distillery can perform at all ages!

90/100!