CLYNELISH 2008 10YO - SIGNATORY FOR TWE

There was a time when this distillery flew quietly under the radar - a time when malts like this one were only drunk by the whisky anorak, a time when what was in the bottle mattered but those days are over...

Today, the contents still matters to some, of course, but we also now see Clynelish being snapped up for investment purposes, sadly... This has created a surge in prices both on the primary but also secondary markets over the past couple of years.

Another whisky drinkers whisky this has happened to, is Springbank - a distillery that will have a harder time than Clynelish keeping up with demand and an ever growing fan base.

The first real sign of this, was the ever growing number of participants for the Campbeltown Malt Whisky Festival these past 4 years (not counting 2020, of course) Also now, for the first time ever there will be a ballot for the bottles for the Springbank Society Fan Club - a club that should have stopped signing up new members when it was clear that Springbank couldn't keep up the same level of service to existing members as previously. A controversial statement, I know - but rather that than risk loosing hard-core returning customers down the line...
They are, after all, the customers they must rely on when times gets hard again - and it will, eventually... 

A sign of the times, I'm afraid - a time where I truly feel sorry for people just starting their whisky journey. A journey that will be both more expensive and poorer in quality than even just a few years ago.

Let's return to the whisky in question, though...
This whisky was selected and bottled for the 20th anniversary of that London heavyweight, The Whisky Exchange along with a small handful of other bottlings.
Signatory has a pretty good reputatation surrounding them as has the cask pickers at The Whisky Exchange so I just straight in and bought a bottle back when it came out in 2019  - Check below for the verdict

Clynelish Distillery, October 10th 2014 - © The Malt Desk

Clynelish 2008 10yo (06.06.2008/01.04.2019) 57,4%, 1st fill ex-bourbon cask#800139, 237 bottles, Signatory Vintage for TWE's 20th Anniversary

Nose:

Upon first approach, the smells you get when you open the spice cabinet. Both with regular spices and ones used in baking, vanilla, all spice, white pepper, icing sugar, licorice root.

Also in there are a hint of camphor drops, delicious oak notes, a slight floral note and green malt mixed in with a mineral note (chalk/flint ??)
Also initially got a hint of fresh onions (Imagine that! :-O ) though it disappeared again when the other notes came through. All in all quite fresh and lively...

Taste:

Not really finding much the usual Clynelish waxy style here, though hints of it do seem to come through. My thoughts are that this might need a few more years to have the notes we know so well come through? I certainly see why they're bottling the standard expression at 14yo.

There seems to be a rumor floating around that a few of the production years during the 00's didn't quite deliver the style of spirit they were aiming for - maybe this is one of them? Then maybe not as I am picking up a slight note of that
recognizeable Clynelish style :-)

Anyway, the cask generally seems to be of good quality allowing a good amount of malt/barley sugars to shine, natural oils, bags of white fruit, quite a floral honey note and some lemony notes dominating along with the malt

All in all, this is quite nice, but I prefer my Clynelish with a bit more age to them... Still, this has potential

86/100!

CLYNELISH 1995 23YO - SIGNATORY VINTAGE

Tonights single malt indulgence...

Clynelish 1995 23yo bottled at 56,4% from a single sherry butt#11242. Opened little over a week ago. Back then gave off some undesireable sulphury notes. A huge disappointment then...

It has now in the past 9 days been sitting with the cork off for a few hours and left to breathe (cork in) for this past week and has developed nicely. It still has a little trace of sulphur on the palate but this can be drowned out with water without hurting the overall experience.

What your experience with letting sulphury drams breathe for a periode of time?

And do you like your Clynelish better fra bourbon casks rather than sherry casks? I think I do...    

Clynelish 1995 23yo Dist. 21.11.1995 Bott. 16.06.2019, Refill sherry butt#11242, 592 bottles, Sigantory Vintage series Nose: The nose is now on stewed overripe fruits, heavy on dark honey with a hint of something herbal and camphor.

Taste: The palate has a slight hint of the sulphury still, even after adding 2 teaspoons of water, but its heavy on dark fruits and slight burnt caramel. Think the top of your Creme Brulee.

Its thick and oily and fruity, but maybe not as waxy as we normally see from Clynelish. Here, I'm sensing the sherry cask masking it somewhat.

Still, a great dram once its been allowed to breathe and with water added it definitely moves up a class!

What your experience with letting sulphury drams breathe for a period of time?

And do you like your Clynelish better fra bourbon casks rather than sherry casks? I think I do...    

82/100! ... and thats with added water to drown out the sulphur

CLYNELISH 1989 28YO - GORDON AND MACPHAIL CONNOISSEURS CHOICE

We're staying north of Inverness for this next review.
Clynelish is one of my all time favourite distilleries and the standard 14yo bottling from the distillers at Diageo is one of the best reasonably standard releases out there, IMO

I last passed the distillery in late September 2016 on a whisky trip together with 4 whisky friends to discover the tours and prices had gone mad! Tours with tastings that were just the slightest bit interesting for the whisky anorak started at £100! Glad we had a bottle of Glenmorangie 1979 and Brora 1983 back at our holiday house, I had brought back to Scotland for our groups mutual enjoyment.

Prices aside, Clynelish makes a great whisky and this one from Gordon & MacPhail is no exception. Something extraordinary just happens to the Clynelish spirit when it passes 20+ years.

On to the review:

Clynelish Distillery fenced off during renovation in October 2014 © The Malt Desk

Clynelish 1989 28yo 49,8% Dist. 15.11.1989/bottled 26.06.2018 Batch 18/035, Refill American hogshead, 221 bottles, Gordon & MacPhail Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength

Colour is straw - quite thick feling to this when swirled gently in the glass

Nose:
A slight dusty and moldy warehouse note pops op at you right away only to be pushed aside by mild oak and bit of that trademark oily/waxiness often found in Clynelish. Just after that an incredible fruit burst comes through with lots of apple, pears and bananas accompanied by honey and a faint briny note. Just lovely!

Taste:
Lovely thick and mouth coating. There are juicy fruits of a more tropical style this time like a multi fruit juice style thing. A few drops of water brings out a little ginger and turns it more citrussy in style and adding some sugared candy sticks notes to it as well.

A lovely Clynelish for sure! I'd love a full bottle and the time to explore this further..

89/100!

Official sample provided by G&M

CLYNELISH 1989 - SCOTCH SINGLE MALT CIRCLE

A quick and dirty review today from one of my favourite distilleries...

Clynelish 1989 22yo (07.06.1989/13.02.2013) 51,8%, ex-bourbon hogshead#3843, 186 bottles, Scotch Single Malt Circle

Colour is full straw

Nose:
Fruity and an oaky nip initially, apple and waxy. Also a lovely barley infused sweetness here - like nosing a sugar covered breakfast cereal, vanilla honey and some more of that spicyness from the oak.

Taste:
Spicy oak again on arrival, even a bit drying. Then some white fruit, mainly on juicy yeallow apples. The slight hints of something gingery and honeyed, but I'd rather say it goes towards a more heavy syrupy style. Mid to end palate gives away to a floral note, crisp oak and peppery finish.

This has an oaky nip to it than put it a bit off balance, IMO... still good though!

Thanks to RM for the sample!

86/100!

CLYNELISH 1995 - A.D. RATTRAY

Although Clynelish is one of my favourite distilleries, this will just be a quick review...

Bottled by A.D. Rattray that just annonced they'll be opening a distillery on the Glasgows Queen's Docks - hopefully in mid 2015 - best of luck to them!

You can read more about it here

Clynelish Distillery - Picture from Wikimedia

Clynelish 1995 (22.09.1995/25.08.2011) 15yo, 55,3%, sherry butt#8657 (part), 330 bottles, A.D. Rattray

Colour is dark amber

Nose:
Initially a little sulphury edge (matches), but it reduces to almost nothing after a good 10mins or so, revealing apple, grist, malt, dark fruits, nutmeg and the slightest hint of peat.

Taste:
Sweet then bitter arrival, dry oloroso style, nutty, ginger overripe oranges, burnt sugar, hint of cinnamon and black pepper again on a nutty and slightly bitter oak finish. A very fruity, malty Clynelish

Very nice Clynelish - I loved it! ... and thanks to GNJ for the sample

86/100!

CLYNELISH 1992 26.70 'GOBSTOPPERS IN THE HEADMASTER'S OFFICE' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

Those that follow my blog regularly must have discovered by now that Clynelish is one of my favourite distilleries. There's just something about the coastal, fruit'n'salty style... :-)

Clynelish 1992 26.70 'Gobstoppers in the Headmaster's office' 18yo, 54,7%, Refill ex-bourbon barrel, 156 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is straw

Nose:
Oily, thick barley, vanilla, apple toffee, honey, vanilla biscuits and lemons, spicy and a bit of a hot nose feel

Taste:
Quite salty on arrival, then a burst of spicy oak. The whole thing feels quite 'hot'.
Gets a bit cardboardy and then showing some fresh ginger and black pepper. Also a measure of cooked fruits, mainly apple in there... Goes back to vanilla and barley sugar on the finish along with a slight hint of peat.

Had this one not been a bit spirity (hot) it would have gone a couple of points higher

Thanks to GNJ for the sample

86/100!

CLYNELISH 1984 26.92 'HARD GLAZED PRETZEL STICKS' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

I was just sorting through my pictures for one to use for this blog post when I suddenly realised I have more than a handful of pictures of the old Clynelish (Now Brora) Distillery, but actually lacking shots of the new Clynelish buildings... But I guess that just goes to prove I'm a whisky romanticist, right ;-) and it also gives me a good reason to return to Scotland too :-D

I've been reviewing alot of bottlings from the SMWS since the they've opened a branch in Denmark last year in September and right now I feel they provide some of the best value/quality bottlings in this high inflation whisky market.

But there's been somewhat of a revival(??) of an older bottler that used to be my favourite a few years back. It's now giving competition both on quality and prices (no, not giving away all my tricks here and telling you who it is)... But after trying a new range from that bottler in the spring during the Spirit of Speyside Festival, I'm confident they're back on the right track and I will be watching them closely.

Now on to the the SMWS review...

The rear of the Clynelish Distillery and shop entrance - 4th August 2009 © The Malt Desk

Clynelish 1984 26.92 28yo (13.12.1984/xx.xx.2013) 'Hard glazed pretzel sticks' 58,2%, 491 bottles, refill ex-sherry butt, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is white wine

Nose:
Straight off, it gives off lots of alcohol, but also sweet fruity/citrussy notes. Quite salty, minerals, Fairy washing up liquid and some sweet wort. It gets a bit more herbal with time and cut grass appears along with a slight vinous note, even if this is a well used sherry butt.

Taste:
Squashed citrus fruits (oranges mostly), oak spices, a syrupy note and a dash of vanilla, honey and candles/waxy/oily notes. Very Clynelish. Also a slightly 'hot' edge to it and it takes to water very well, bringing out its barley origins.

A lemony salty, barley experience this one. A very good, but not the best older Clynelish from the SMWS as of late. I know I said it takes to water very well, but be careful dosing it, as its a fine edge between swimming and drowning with this dram.

88/100! ...and thanks to MBO for the sample

CLYNELISH 1991 13YO - SIGNATORY

I'll follow up the Brora review from a couple of days ago with a review from across the road, literally! from the new Clynelish distillery. I'll keep the whole thing short and sweet today...

Clynelish 1991 13yo (23.11.1991/11.05.2005) 46%, Hogshead#12723, 373 bottles, Signatory Un-Chillfiltered Collection

Colour is pale white wine

Nose:
Pear, hint of tequila, ash, bit of yeast, some raw fruity spirit, slight honey too, grassy and a hint of metal shavings, white chocolate and diesel. Sometimes this reminds me very much of an Irish Whiskey on the nose

Taste:
Gentle arrival on white fruits, peppery, salty citrus and a bit of wet newspaper/cardboard. Again grassy, old cellar feel and again a slightly metallic note, mainly dominant on the finish.

Decent drinking whisky, this one... especially with 5 drops of water that takes out the metallic notes in it... Again thanks to Kalle for the sample

83/100!

CLYNELISH 1997 15YO - ADELPHI

Alex Bruce from Adelphi has just been touring Denmark to promote their products... IMO they sell themselves - I've yet to have a bottling I would consider 'bad' - but it good to see Alex out and about and hope to catch up with him myself before long. I'm sure he has exiting things to tell about the progression of the Ardnamurchan Distillery.

I visited the plot of land where it was to be built in August 2012 - and it wasn't literally nothing more than an overgrown plot with vegetation little more than knee high in most places.

When I first heard of the location of Adelphi's Distillery I thought they'd lost their marbles but having been there I see the beauty of Ardnamurchan with the peninsula running all the way out to make the westerly mainland point in Scotland... but most important what it can provide with both peat styles, water and also being close to the Glenborrodale Castle where Alex & Co. sometimes use as a business location. I just wonder if the road there is up for the traffic - first the builders and then all the whisky tourists going there once the distillery is completed... I mean, most of the road going there is single track :-O

The plot of land where the Ardnamurchan Distillery is to be built - August 22nd 2012 © The Malt Desk

We're now 2½ months into 2013 and plans are for the Ardnamurchan Distillery to be distilling in the autumn of the this year - I hope they succeed and also hope to visit the place again before long...

Now onto the review:

Clynelish 1997 15yo 54,5% refill bourbon cask#6510, 283 bottles, Adelphi

Colour is white wine

Nose:
Creamy apple at first nosing, roasted bread crumbs, vanilla custard and after a short while some citrus notes along with honey, oak, wet malt, whole-grain cereal and natural caramel.

Taste:
Lovely crisp oak and slightly floral and waxy arrival turning to vanilla'ed malt and honey, vanilla butter biscuits (DK style), barley sugars and a hint of spicy oak on the finish.

An incredible easy drinker this Clynelish, pleasant with a distinct waxy and natural caramel edge to it - good fun!

86/100!

CLYNELISH 2000 26.91 'LEMON PICKER IN A BARBOUR JACKET' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

As promised in the last review here's a younger version from this terrific distillery.
No fuzz, let's just post the facts on this next one...

Clynelish Warehouse A - August 2009 © The Malt Desk

Clynelish 2000 26.91 (08.04.2000/xx.xx.2012) 12yo 'Lemon picker in a Barbour jacket' 60,6%, Refill ex-bourbon hogshead, 301 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is white wine

Nose:
Salt, ozone, lemons for sure, something perfumy, creamy, white fruits, incredibly fresh and zesty along with some cask sweetness, mainly vanillas

Taste:
Citrus in abundance, barley sugar, grape fruit, some ginger and pepper.
Water brings out a salty freshness and new oak. I'm also thinking Lime and Ginger Ale and whisky?... Anyone up for a Scottish Mule?

Another good Clynelish!

85/100!

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!

CLYNELISH 2003 26.88 'MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DRAM' - THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY

This January I'll be reviewing good deal of bottlings from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society.

As always with SMWS, you can count on non-coloured, non-chill filtered, single cask bottlings at full strength. There will be quite a few Islay whiskies among the lot, but there will also be something for the non-peatheads among you.

I'll be starting off with one of my favourite distilleries, Clynelish which has the distillery code '26'
I'll be trying bottling no. 88 from Clynelish hence making it 26.88 with the appealing name 'Midsummer night's dram' - Lovely, ain't it? :-)

Clynelish 26.88 (16.06.2003/xx.xx.2012) 9yo 'Midsummer night's dram' 61,8%, 1st fill bourbon barrel, 225 bottles, The Scotch Malt Whisky Society

Colour is pale straw

Nose:
Fruits, pears in particular, honey, some alcohol nip at full strength, fresh flowers from a summers field.

Taste:
Exotic/tropical fruits and berries, incredibly fresh, citrus, that Clynelish waxiness and salt and hint of something perfumy.

A straight forward young malt that delivers its qualities very well and is very drinkable, even at full strength, though I suggest a small dash of water to calm things down a bit.

86/100!

SIGNATORY PRESTONFIELD - CLYNELISH 1973

Old Clynelish, especially from the era around where they did large batches of peated malt at the distillery is held in high esteem among malt fans. Oh, and then there's the fact that both distilleries - the new and the old Clynelish were producing at the time - read: they hadn't renamed the old Clynelish to Brora yet...

So does this one come off the new stills on the left side of the road or the old 2 stills on the right side? we'll never know - but lets have a dram here:

Clynelish 1973 33yo 23.07.1973/xx.xx.2006 54,3%, cask#8912, 405 bottles, Signatory Prestonfield

Colour is light straw

Nose:
Initially grape fruit bitterness, vanilla and oak spices, more than a hint of smoke that dies down to very gentle layer after a while. Some trademark Clynelish waxiness as well as some honeyed notes. It gets much sweeter with time the fruitiness turns a bit more tropical.

Taste:
Coal smoke, tropical fruits galore here - getting especially banana and citrus fruits and a bit of ginger here, a peppery feeling runs to the front of the mouth and then a layer of smoke reappears with more honeyed fruits on the aftertaste.

This dram will keep you occupied for hours (though you maybe have to re-pour a couple of times!) Just simply a beautiful dram, this one!

91/100!

(ANOTHER) CLYNELISH 1997 - ADELPHI

On Monday 4th June, I reviewed a sister cask to this one (cask#4721)
You can read that review here
Now let's try the cask filled just before the other one - the #4720

Both er are refill ex-bourbon casks and exactly the same age, so its should be fun to compare notes...

Clynelish 1997 14yo 59,1% from ex-bourbon hogshead#4720, 260 bottles, Adelphi


Golden amber in colour


Nose:
Hint of oak first nosing, then vanilla and citrus fruits, Trademark Clynelish waxyness, peach and sweet apple crumble and a hint of 'Froggy' dishwashing detergent. With water more citrus (oranges) and vanilla comes out along with a dash of Irn Bru

Taste:
Bitter sweet arrival, spicy to the level of european oak being used for maturing this one.
Peppery, nuts, salt and brine, more oranges and a nip of oak. Fresh oranges now for sure and that waxy delicious mouthfeel. All in perfect measures!


90/100!

7 WHISKIES BOTTLED BY ADELPHI - PART I

Time for a 7-part Adelphi spree - Adelphi -as we all probably all know- is logistically run out of Charletown, Fife though others may know the their HQ to be Glenborrodale Castle in Ardnamurchan, Argyll on the Scottish west coast.

The faces we should know from Adelphi are the very nice Sales and Marketing Director Alex Bruce and his charming sister Antonia. There are, of course, alot more going on behind the scenes, though - but you can read more about that by following the link below the Adelphi Dancey man logo.

Well, now that I've said Ardnamurchan, I'd be rude not to mention Adelphi's distillery plans to go ahead there... It should be up and running in the Autumn of 2013 - and it is certainly on my to-visit-list.

It's going to be the most westernly mainland distillery when finished. For comparison - the Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull will be its closest neighbour with just 5 miles across to Ardnamurchan.

Adelphi's Dancey Man

More info on this high quality small bottler and soon distillery operator here

----------------------------------------------------

Right, let's get down to this 7 part bonanza! :-) First up is one of my favorite distilleries:

Clynelish 1997 14yo 57,2% from ex-bourbon hogshead#4721, 201 bottles, Adelphi

Nose:
Light golden in clour this is a fruity little number, hints of citrus, maybe some avocado skins and oaky vanillas

Taste:
Ahh, indeed fruity, especially with a couple of drops of water, which really opens this one up. Not your usual waxy Clynelish, but a more coastal version with what tastes a bit like some salt/seaspray, some creamy note of peach maybe? A medium finish with a slightly drying peppery note.

87/100!

EDINBURGH INDIE 'THE BOTTLERS' - PART II

Right, part II of V-part review of The Bottlers goes ahead with a Clynelish - should be good:

Clynelish 1979 21yo 62,3% xx.07.1979/xx 07.2000, refill sherry hogshead#8333, The Bottlers

Full gold in colour

Nose:
Slightly farmyardy, the high abv% hits hard on the nose, with water some vanilla and mint comes out. Light chocolaty as well - very pleasant, indeed!

Taste:
Chocolate for sure, cake creme, candy store, some waxy fruits notes and caramel. Long and delicious sweet finish with just a hint of peat

90/100!