Clynelish 9 Year (SMWS 26.222 "Pleasantly Puzzling")

 

Clynelish is such a lovely spirit - it's so bright, with citrus everywhere and tropical fruit often present, with a salty, chalky texture that really showcases the flavors very well. At its best, of course, there is the famously fantastic wax flavor/texture present, although I suspect that Clynelish (Diageo) hoards the waxiest casks and sells off the minimally waxy ones. 

Clynelish 9 Year (SMWS 26.197 "Fisherman’s Friends on the Beach")

 

It's very rare to see an oily/coastal/briny Clynelish these days. The official 14 year bottling has touched of coastal salinity, but only a bit - it's been deliberately rounded, I'm sure, just the way that the famous waxy note has been tamped down pretty dramatically over the years.

So when I spotted this independently bottled oily/coastal 9 year Clynelish from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), I was quite curious. Clynelish operates in Brora, Scotland, right on the water, so you'd expect a bit more oceanic influence than you usually get. 

Clynelish 8 Year (SMWS 26.137 "Chasing Chameleons")

 

There is something really fun and engaging about young Clynelish. I've heard the older version of Clynelish can be sublime, or near perfection - but I've never had it. Instead I've had plenty of bottles like this one, a young 8 year independent bottling from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society ("SMWS"), nicknamed Chasing Chameleons. 

Clynelish 10 Year (Single Malts of Scotland, Jack Rose Single Cask Selection)

 

Clynelish is a weird one: both legendary, yet in the wrong hands (including their own, sometimes) it can be quite underwhelming. A coastal Highland distillery, they are famous for the waxy character of their distillate over the years, due to collections that form in the wooden washbacks. Here is a more detailed look. 

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. 

Clynelish 14 Year Second Take

 It's been a year and a half since I last reviewed the official bottling of vaunted distillery Clynelish, and it's long overdue for a return look. 

Aged 14 years in ex-bourbon casks, although rumors persist that a little refill sherry casking is present as well - I came across that claim on numerous websites - and bottled at 46%.

Diageo is infamously mum about most of the important aspects of their various single malts. 95% of the output of Clynelish goes to Johnnie Walker, as far as I can tell, despite their very high reputation in the independent bottling scene. 

Is this colored? Almost certainly. Is it chill-filtered? Very probably. But my memory is that the famously waxy character of Clynelish still shines through, and this is a particularly delectable single malt. Let's explore...

Clynelish 8 Year (SMWS 26.161 "Put the Pebble to the Petal!")

 

Ah, Clynelish! How I love thee. Both the official 14-year bottling (surprisingly complex of both flavor and texture), and all the strange, exciting independent bottlings I've had. This bottle, an 8-year from the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), is aged entirely in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, and bottled at a wonderfully stiff 60.9% ABV. Part of the "sweet, fruity, and mellow" flavor profile, it's nicknamed "Put the Pebble to the Petal!" which is curious, and suggestive. Official SMWS tasting notes include putty, clay, wax, chalk, stone, pineapple jelly, and gorse. Fascinating!! Let's see what I find:

Signatory Clynelish 11 Year NCF

 

I am going through an independent bottling phase, and the latest dram to cross my path is this delicious 11 year expression of Clynelish (the official bottling is 14 years). While I found the Edradour fractionally better than the official offering, this is the first independent bottle I have thought was definitively superior to the official one. Aged 11 years in a bourbon barrel, bottled at 46% without filtering or coloring, this is delectable stuff:

Clynelish 14 Year

I've been hearing about Clynelish (KLINE-leash) off and on since I started this blog. The story is really in two parts - a story of two distilleries. The original Clynelish distillery is now called "Brora" and was last open between 1968 and 1983, making heavily peated whisky to make up for a shortage on Islay (!) for blending purposes (!!). Brora is long closed, and any remaining bottles from it are in the Holy Grail pantheon of whiskies. 

The modern Clynelish, up in the far, far northeast of Scotland (think: Old Pulteney), has been putting out high quality whisky for many years now, but - as is the way of our capitalist society - most of it has been channeled straight into Johnnie Walker Gold.