Clynelish 17 yo 1995 Signatory #12796 vs Clynelish 18 yo 1996/2015 Whiskybroker #11448 vs Clynelish 17 yo 1997/2015 Lady of the Glen #12363
Some 90s Clynelish. The vintages you commonly see are 1995, 1996 and especially 1997, so in a vertical:
Clynelish 17 yo 1995/2012 Signatory #12796 ‘Ibisco Decanter’ 43%
Nose: Classic! Starts with beeswax and paraffin, and it’s a very ‘clean’ one too, then moving on to hot stones, chalk, kaolin. They even added a teaspoon of gin. Very expressive at 43%, though tad simple.
Palate: Yes 43% is a bit weak but this is no weak whisky, quite a bit of celery juice and a flinty mineral edge that makes you think of licking granite. Bitter herbals, angelica? And then some clean black earth and bark, moving on very quickly to something like cold extinguished campfire.
Finish: A bit short but what a show this whisky has put up already. More charcoal and angelica.
Low proof yes but the quality is great and the markers there. A big waxy one that may not be out of place a few years earlier.
Clynelish 18 yo 1996/2015 Whiskybroker #11448 54.1%
Nose: This one is ridden with bourbon but the spirit holds up well. Under all that vanilla and sweet wood there is a flinty cold edge. Carbon paper or graphite. Quite a lot of these dirty sooty coal and engine grease notes too, but it does feel constrained by the bourbon.
Palate: Yes immediately sweet and woody, but lots of Sugar mints and spearmint gum. Then cold firepit, cold ash, graphite and cold tar.
Finish: Rather long, but again bananas, caramel, brulee, and just a tiny bit of Clynelish.
Clynelish in a first fill bourbon barrel can only take so much, it does feel numbed by the overpowering sweetness.
Clynelish 17 yo 1997/2015 Lady of the Glen #12363 54.9%
With many thanks Keith Chong! Also ripped off your picture –
Nose: Back on track. This one is very mineralled, also lots of thick paraffin and candlewax. Quite a lot going on. Honey and something ‘yellow’. Pollen? Carbon paper again.
Palate: Yes. Some wax, some honey but it’s the sharp mineralled side that speaks most. White wine, though not a woody one. Clean dry and sharp. More carbon notes. Maybe even a little salted caramel. Towards the finish some really gin like notes show up – juniper and cucumber. Best complexity of the 3. Really good actually, though not ‘easy’.
Finish: Long immaculate, squeaky clean.
Excellent form and high quality, though by nature less approachable than the waxy 1995 or bourbony 1996. Still, a whisky lover’s whisky.
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