Review by: The Muskox

Having just reviewed that 30-year-old “Ambrosial nectar” Clynelish from the SMWS, it’s onto another promising Clynelish. Indeed, I did try these as part of the same tasting last month. I’m just now revisiting them separately to finish up my notes.

---

Distillery: Clynelish.

Bottler: Signatory Vintage.

Region: Highlands.

ABV: 43%.

Age: 15 years. Distilled February 17th, 1983. Bottled November 12th, 1998.

Cask type: “Oak cask”, according to the label. Presumably a refill cask of some kind.

Price: N/A, sample.

Color: 0.6, Old Gold. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

---

Nose: Sweet and fragrant. A variety of warm fruit notes – pear, orange peels, mixed stonefruit, a little raisin, and red table grapes. Paraffin wax, flowers, spearmint, and clean laundry. Brioche and honeycomb. Black pepper, oolong tea, and a hint of soft peat smoke.

A drop of water adds a chalky minerality and pencil shavings.

Palate: Medium thick texture, quite oily. Arrives with ginger chews, paraffin, and citrus peels. Long slow development to rich wax, some sweet malt, a moderate amount of peat smoke. More red grapes, some grapefruit.

A little smokier and much more mineral with the water. Jalapeno?

Finish: Shortish, very fresh. Burning paraffin candles give way to white tea, grapefruit oil, and wintergreen. A little caramel. The oily texture remains even after the flavour has dissipated.

---

Possible SMWS bottling name: “Pre-snog breathmint”

Conclusion: This is surprisingly similar to 26.211 Ambrosial Nectar, and it’s not that much worse either. This isn’t as complex as that one, but has the same ‘clean’ notes of wax, linen, and fine soaps that to me are what make Clynelish so loveable. This bottling also has a stronger oily-peat note, which is a whole other kind of delectable. The nose and mouthfeel are both very rich for the proof, too – it’s delicate in terms of the kinds of flavours, but not in their intensity. This is a very good one.

Final Score: 87.

---

Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.