Clynelish 17 Year (SMWS 26.179 "Eastern Coastlines")

 

The second dram of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS") March outturn preview tasting. This was also immediately identifiable as Clynelish right on the nose - so much wax! - even without knowing the distillery because of the order page provided online. 

Here are the official notes:

A salty, sweet and warm sea breeze wafted through a dunnage warehouse which had been transported from Sutherland in the Highlands to the Scotland district in the parish of St. Andrews in Barbados. On the palate neat, thick and deliciously creamy like grass-fed Jersey cows’ milk before we were foraging gorse to make a cup of tea sweetened with honey. Add a drop of water and the scent of gorse was joined by the Pride of Barbados with its fragrant orange-yellow flowers which were attracting hummingbirds. The taste is sublime, smooth and sweet – happy hour under the Caribbean starlit night with steel band music gentle playing in the background.

Intriguingly, this is much closer to my tasting notes than the Glen Moray was. 

I will note for the record that the smell in the glass after the dram was done was the most intense "freshly snuffed candle wax" note I've ever encountered. Whatever buildup in the feints causes that waxy taste is here in *spades*. 

Bottled at 54.5% ABV. Let's dig in: 

Nose: Wax, orange oil, orange blossoms, chalky candy, lemonheads candy. Smells exactly like all the young Clynelish bottles I've had before from SMWS. I initially guessed this was another 6-7 years old! Has hints of a dusty malt bin, which is the only hint to the age. Otherwise this scents quite young. 

Mouthfeel: Oily, waxy, thick-textured. 

Palate: Follows the nose closely: Starburst candy (orange, lemon), chalk, faint malt, lots of wax, some flowery notes on the back end. 

Finish: Medium length, fruit and malt fading fairly rapidly. 

Verdict: I was so surprised to learn this was 17 years old. It smells and tastes like a 7 year old! There are almost no signs of its age present - it's difficult to justify $185 for this, in all honesty, considering you can wait a month or two and get the same experience for $100-115. The one great thing here is the enormous amount of wax - it drips in fresh wax from the start to the finish and even after the finish, in the empty glass. 

I have been slowly working through an official bottling of Clynelish (the 14 year) and find it more complex and mature than this 17 year bottle. Go figure! Still, this is interesting - just not quite interesting to justify a purchase.