Tamnavulin Moon Import ‘Birds’ 1966 / 1988 45% vs Clynelish 27 yo 1982 / 2010 Berry Bros for Whisky-e #5890 53.4% vs Clynelish 24 yo 1989 / 2013 Adelphi #3846 53.1%
Tamnavulin Moon Import ‘Birds’ 1966 / 1988 45%
Beautiful labels. This old Tamnavulin has much to say, and does so in a lilting accent of old, if you will. Copper coins, tacky grease, char stained ovens, some dirty flints and damp earth. Immediately recognizable as an older style of whisky. Here’s apricots or oranges browning at the bottom, honey drizzled pastry, and molten candlewax. Hay and garden trimmings in the sun. As warm and gregarious as a childhood friend. Nothing less than 91 pts
Clynelish 27 yo 1982 / 2010 Berry Bros for Whisky-e #5890 53.4%
A ‘hot’ whisky – Steaming hot paraffin. and dripping beeswax. Actually, it feels like the sun got into everything. Hot minerals and granite under an afternoon sun, piles of hay and loamy earth baking quietly next to little yellow meadow flowers. And the most delicate pear eau de vie. A thin green edge of thyme cuts the haze and introduces yellow mustard and a bit of chilli seed for a herbaceous twist. It’s actually a fairly simple, soft but such conviction. A white silk sun dress. 90 pts
Clynelish 24 yo 1989 / 2013 Adelphi #3846 53.1%
The apple did not fall far from the tree though overall, this is a much more strident whisky; Here, eschewing the softness and warmth of wax for chemical paraffin. Oaky Chardonnay too with slight butyric slant which appears like a bit to cheese to me. Fortunately there’s also tinned apricots with that metallic tang. Plenty of dry stones, and parched clay ground. There’s quinine bark meandering about and something coniferous, peppery and minty. Certainly interesting if not the easiest. 88 pts
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