Malt Nuts: Clynelish Round 5 Tasting

I think it’s fair to say Clynelish is one of our club’s favorite distilleries. We love the waxy fruity delivery and there is no end to the number of indie releases available. This love of the dram + the endless supply means these are easy tastings to assemble and so it’s likely there are even more of these to come.

This was done in our typical blind style, via Zoom. And with that short-and-sweet intro, let’s jump right into it.

Malt Nuts: Clynelish Round 5 – Round 1

1A: Game of Thrones Clynelish: 51.2% – ex-Bourbon

Nose: Waxy banana, toffee, apples, baking spice and pastries.
Palate: Waxy banana, toffee, apples, baking spice and pastries.
Finish: Long -> Waxy banana, toffee, apples.
Overall: (3.5 / 5) Starting off with a banger, this is a basic, but tasty, Clynelish

1B: TWA Clynelish 11 years (07-18): 53.5% – ex-Bourbon

Nose: Waxy banana, toffee, malt, stewed apples, and baking spice and pastries.
Palate: Malt, spice, waxy banana, toffee and pastries.
Finish: Medium -> Waxy banana and malt.
Overall: (3 / 5) Similar to 1A, but a bit drier and not quite as dynamic.

1C: Malts of Scotland Clynelish: 60.8% – ex-Bourbon

Nose: Waxy vanilla, spice, banana taffy, malt, toffee and pastries.
Palate: Tropical fruit, waxy vanilla, dried malt, toffee, baking spice and pastries.
Finish: Med-long -> Fruit and spice.
Overall: (3.5 / 5) Ok, I take it back. THIS is more like 1A than 1B was. Quite nice.

1D: Single Cask Nation Clynelish 9 years (10-19): 58.1% – 1st Fill ex-Bourbon

Nose: Super light, but has notes of waxy banana, vanilla, orchard fruit, lemon and copper.
Palate: Olde candy, waxy banana taffy, olde candy and copper.
Finish: Medium -> Waxy banana, copper and olde candy.
Overall: (3 / 5) Not bad, fairly average for decent Clynelish but with a light nose.

1E: Signatory Clynelish 10 years (08-18): 57.9% – ex-Bourbon

Nose: Banana bread, waxy vanilla, spice, floral, honey, lemon peel.
Palate: Waxy banana, vanilla cupcakes, honey, lemon peel and nutmeg.
Finish: Med -> Banana, malt, vanilla.
Overall: (3 / 5) Like 1D, it’s a fairly average Clynelish and doesn’t get me excited.

1F: The Ultimate Clynelish 10 years (08-19): 56.8% – 1st Fill ex-Bourbon

Nose: Waxy tropical and orchard fruit, Banana’s Foster and baking spice.
Palate: Fruit salad, malt, tropical fruit candy, honey, graham and spice.
Finish: Long -> Waxy fruit, malt and spice.
Overall: (3.5 / 5) This is quite nice, it gets better as it goes and opens to more depth of fruity and earthy notes.

Post-Reveal Commentary: This was a tasty, and perfect, opening round for Clynelish. It was quintessential to the distillery and set the perfect tone for the rest of the tasting. It was also nice to see the GoT Clynelish here and to see it hold its own so nicely.

Malt Nuts: Clynelish Round 5 – Round 2

2A: Duncan Taylor Clynelish 18 years (95-14): 54.9% – “Oak”

Nose: Complex waxy fruit, oil, malt, char and nuts.
Palate: Complex waxy fruit, oil, malt, char and nuts with some powdered sugar and fresh pastries.
Finish: Long -> Waxy fruit, toffee and malt.
Overall: (4 / 5) Wow, the layers and levels of fruit here are astounding.

2B: Berry’s Clynelish 15 years (97-13)

Nose: Buttery fruit, waxy vanilla, honey, graham, baking spice, saline and nutty char.
Palate: Buttery fruit, waxy vanilla, honey, graham, baking spice, saline and nutty char with hints of sauternes.
Finish: Long -> Waxy fruit, olde candy and spice.
Overall: (4 / 5) OMG, this is a killer round so far, this is an excellent and complex follow up to 2A.

2C: Pearls Of Scotland Clynelish 17 years (97-14): 53.6% – ex-Bourbon

Nose: Buttery, waxy, fruity, malty and sweet with a sugar cookie undertone.
Palate: Buttery, waxy, fruity, malty and sweet with a bubblegum undertone.
Finish: Long -> Waxy and buttery fruit and malt.
Overall: (4 / 5) Hot, this one burns a bit, but it’s the good kind of burn and I’m enjoying the complexity

2D: Hepburn’s Choice Clynelish 18 years (97-15): 55.4% – Refill Hogshead

Nose: Malty, fruity, waxy and a bit oaky with some nuts and spice.
Palate: Malty, fruity, waxy and a bit oaky with some nuts and spice with a bit of vanilla taffy.
Finish: Med -> Fruit.
Overall: (3 / 5) Not quite as dynamic as the rest, comes through a bit muted. Nice, but muted even with water.

2E: Art Nouveau Clynelish 19 years (00-20): 52.4% – ex-Bourbon Hogshead

Nose: Funky and odd, overripe banana, stale spice and imitation vanilla with a touch of sulfur and wax.
Palate: Overripe banana, dried fruit, wax and a bit of baking spice and vanilla with a touch of the sulfur.
Finish: Med-long -> Banana pudding, candle wax and a bit of spice and slufur
Overall: (2.5 / 5) Has an overall overripe banana note that is so… odd. I shouldn’t like this one, but I kind of, oddly, do. I keep coming back to it. WTF

2F: Subtle Spirits Selkie Clynelish 14 years: 57.1% -Hogshead

Nose: Dry malt, banana chips, day-old pastries, salted nuts, and oil.
Palate: Dry malt, banana chips, day-old pastries, salted nuts, and oil.
Finish: Med -> Plantain chips, malt, oil.
Overall: (2 / 5) Is this a Clynelish? I don’t remember bottling a non-Clynelish, but this is just… off.

Post-Reveal Commentary: I can’t speak to the Subtle Spirits and if it opened up over time, the owner of that bottle would have to weigh in. But I can speak to the Art Nouveau, which I own a bottle of and have open. It’s not the best dram on first taste, but after a month+ of being open it’s become more like the malts in the first round and I’d probably upgrade it to a 3/5. We’ll how I feel when I re-review it for an upcoming week of Clynelish.

Malt Nuts: Clynelish Round 5 – Bonus Round

Bonus: Single Malts of Scotland Clynelish 8 years (10/11-20): 48% – ex-Bourbon

Nose: Medicinal banana, dry malt, olde candy, copper and cinnamon.
Palate: Banana syrup, dry malt.
Finish: Med -> Banana syrup and malt.
Overall: (2 / 5) Damn near one noted with that heavy and never-ending banana syrup.

Post-Reveal Commentary: This surprised me. I’ve had nothing but great casks from SMoS, but this one… yikes.

Just as a point of record-keeping, I didn’t supply the Art Nouveau bottle for this tasting. A whiskey and grilled cheese-loving member of the group supplied it that night, I bought mine later. I supplied 1E (Signatory Clynelish 10 years (08-18): 57.9% – ex-Bourbon) which was a K&L pick I went deep on when it was released. I stand by that decision because it was dirt cheap at the time and remains a tasty whisky.

This was an excellent night of whisky and I wish I had bottles of 2A, 2B and 2C. They were stunners and I hope the owners of those bottles enjoyed the remnants of them to their fullest.

Cheers!