A marriage that works. Clynelish with intense sherry influence.
Clynelish is a distillery owner by Diageo. It has a cult following with its unique ‘waxy’ characteristic of the distillery character with the pungent and slightly coastal briny character.
The 14yo is still a great core range whisky from Clynelish and Clynelish is predominantly a blend for JW Gold label. A lot of independent bottling in the market compared to original distillery bottling. Aged Clynelish is quite difficult to get in the market and often sells out fast especially ex-bourbon casks. Clynelish and sherry casks are more often an 'unsettled' marriage.
Colour: Mahogany. Very brownish gold colour.
Nose: Sherry notes overshadows the distillery character. Caramelized bananas, red tea, some sulphury notes. Some prunes & honey and sultanas. A strong sweet woodiness appears that sort of masks the distillery character. Some maple syrup. Slight tinge of paraffin wax. Earthy notes and walnuts.
Palate: Intense. Generates some heat. Loads of oak spice. Honey and caramelised ginger toffee, bananas, herbal tea and bitter oranges. This one has more of leafy tobacco notes. Traces of nuttiness. Very complex. It shifts between oakiness, distillery character & sherry influence.
Finish: Long. Oak spice, some dark chocolates, menthol, some cracked pepper corns.
A rich, robust, sherry bomb. In a blind tasting this will be difficult to guess as a Clynelish. But once the wave of that waxiness, earthy, pungent and hay notes are picked, it will be a dream dram. I liked this dram very much.
The high ABV and the unsettling oak spice are strengths than weakness.
