Clynelish 1995 The Single Malts of Scotland 23 yo

 

 

 

56,2°

Distillery : Clynelish - Highlands

Bourbon Hogshead

Independent Bottling 

By Elixir Distillers 

Limited Edition 

Single Cask

Bottled in 2019

Unchillfiltered, Uncoloured, Cask Strength

Peated around 8 ppm

 

 

 

As said in my previous post, the Singh brothers have a whole slew of 1995 Clynelish casks in their warehouses, and since 2014, they have been releasing one a year. This is an opportunity for us, humble consumers and enthusiasts, to detect the small differences and the evolutions over time. In 2019, we even had two different casks of Clynelish 1995, one within the Malt Collection range, and another within The Single Malts of Scotland range, this one, from which it was filled 231 bottles and which went on sale at the very end of the year.

 

 

 

 

Let's Taste It :  

Lemon and camphor, or perhaps it's very sweet iodine, or simply a fresh, countryside breeze. Quite mineral. Very balanced. You have to wait a few minutes for the white fruits to emerge. Plums, mirabelles, Chasselas grapes. Banana, passion fruit, papaya. After a while it becomes very exotic and a little alcoholic. You end up smelling wax, more beeswax than candle wax. Old paper soaked in tea. Liquid honey. Old ink, from schools long ago, with desks and inkwells. Liquorice stick. A few herbaceous hints. Chlorophyll and candied rhubarb. An ounce of smoke. Brown sugar. On the palate, the lemon comes through, but accompanied by a very sweet varnish, wood liqueur, pineapple, then the spices, as always quite strong with Clynelish, cumin, black pepper, nutmeg which takes over at the end. A rather explosive finish, once again very peppery, then slowly fades away, giving way to caramelised genoise, brioche bread, a dash of vanilla and pastry cream, meringue, red fruit coulis, heather earth, cola seeds, cocoa powder.

 

In Short, 

Well I'm amazed, it's not at all the same whisky as the 21 year old from my previous post, this one beats it hands down, and yet the other was already very good. The nose is very complex and intense, the mouth is perfectly balanced, the finish is quite explosive and very long. It's really a magnificent Clynelish, I even started to find out about the prices to acquire a bottle. I came away disillusioned.

Score : 91

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                            To Be Listened While Sipping :

                                            Jeff Beck - A Day in the Life