Clynelish 15 yo, Adelphi 1997, cask 6521
A bit of the history behind Clynelish and Brora has been mentioned in the Brora 1981 LMDW post, so the tale does not bear retelling here.
Nonetheless, Clynelish does fill its predecessor’s big shoes rather well, if popular opinion is anything to go by – this is not a lacking malt.
More on the recent good news on expansions – Diageo plans a GBP 30 million expansion to Clynelish (that’s nearly double its GBP 18 million Mortlach expansion), as part of a big GBP 1 billion investment and expansion drive.
The expanded Clynelish:
The plans propose to install an additional mashtun for soaking barley, 10 new washbacks for fermentation, and six new copper stills, doubling production capacity at the distillery to nine million litres of alcohol a year.
A bio-energy plant is also planned for the site to provide non-fossil fuel energy to power the distillery.
More reading here.
Clynelish 15 yo, Adelphi 1997, cask 6521, 53.2%, 293 bottles
Nose: Confectionary glazing, lots of it, cornflakes, green apples. Then vanilla and beeswax-y suppleness. Seems like quite an active oak barrel, this one. There is a bright fruitiness like citrus and cool floral notes, like canaga instead of rose. Very ‘high’ notes. And wood polish. With water, full on fruit bomb, fruit fruit fruit, and wood spices.
Palette: Sweet malt, green tea, fruit again. Then the warm dessert spices come out, its so waxy and mouth coating-ly oily. Macademia oil? Surprise astringent kiwi end.
Finish: Long, Kiwi and cinnamon, and that thick mouthfeel of waxiness really doesn’t wash out.
Such development and complexity for a 15 year old. This one is really worth the price. For someone who wants an highland style fruity waxy whisky.
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