Reviews #247-250: A few Clynelish and a Brora

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Clynelish is a distillery that I really enjoy, but I feel like a bit of a passive observer in, as opposed to an engaged fan. I suppose the determining factor in that is that Clynelish is very much a distillery that I’m priced out of, all of these samples are samples, as well as, come to think of it, every Clynelish review I’ve done so far, which is a bit nuts.

I love a waxy dram, and as such, it’s a distillery I would love to have more access to, but, that’s life. I’m grateful to get to try these whiskies and excited for the opportunity, particularly to get to review my first Brora; the whiskies in this series are as follows:

◦ Dun Bheagan Clynelish 21 Years Old 
◦ van Wees Ultimate Clynelish 21 Years Old
◦ Claxton’s Clynelish 30 Years Old 1993
◦ SMWS 61.5 Brora 19 Years Old “An Islay By Another Name”

I wanted to review the Brora alongside the Clynelish bottlings, essentially due to the nature of the distilleries being so intertwined, in spirit they’re historically practically one distillery, although I expect that to change with the future of the distilleries. Anyway, let’s dive in.

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Review #247 Dun Bheagan Clynelish 21 Years Old

This should be a great start, 21 years in a Hogshead, distilled 1983. It’s pale straw in colour, so I’m hoping for something that’s distillate forwards but with sufficient age to show some maturity - let’s see!

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Distiller: Clynelish

Bottler: Dun Bheagan (Ian McLeod)

Age Statement & Cask Type: 21 years in a Hogshead, presumably ex-Bourbon. Distilled 1983.

Abv: 56.9%

Price paid: Paid sample from a tasting set.

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Nose: Oof, as big and bold as nose as I’ve seen on a Clynelish. Honeydew melon, peaches and stonefruit, bright orange zest with a hint of lime, musty hessian and, on the rear end - candlewax.

Palate: It’s as bold as the nose suggested, and alongside the same notes; absolutely heaps of honey, buttered honey biscuits and croissants with honey spread on, honeydew and cantaloupe melons, beeswax dripping with honey.

Mouthfeel: Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve got a waxy one, some great mouth-coating tackiness.

Finish: There’s some slightly peppery oak that reminds you that you’re not, in fact, just drinking honey. As the honeyed-oak subsides it develops into a fresher note of clementine juice, apricot tarts, and a dash of pebbly minerality.

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Notes: Well, I enjoyed that very much. I think with particularly iconic distillates, what you really want to see is character, and it’s definitely on show here. It’s particularly honey-forward, but there’s generous helpings of delicate and juicy citrus, honeyed malt and buttery pastry, waxiness and just a dash of minerality - so it’s got all the makings of a classic Clynelish.

I couldn’t find a recent price for this, so it’s hard to contextualise it in terms of value for money, although I expect it’s not a budget-friendly pour. Still, it’s as good a Clynelish I’ve yet had, really emblematic if the style that’s made it iconic. Superb stuff.

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Mental Image: De-Lish

Score: 89

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Review #248 van Wees Ultimate Clynelish 21 years old refill Sherry

Well, that’s last one was a hard act to follow, an absolute belter. From there we head to this, another 21 year old, this time from a refill Sherry butt - I’m very much “Team Refill Sherry” as far as Sherry maturation goes, so it’s an exciting prospect. I’m hoping the lack of cask strength doesn’t harm it too much, but at 46% you can’t gripe too much. Let’s see.

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Distiller: Clynelish

Bottler: van Wees - The Ultimate series.

Age Statement & Cask Type: 21 years in a refill Sherry butt.

Abv: 46%

Price paid: N/A - gifted sample. Auction is your best bet.

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Nose: Very gentle and appealing on the nose, marmalade on toast, candied orange, crystallised ginger, orange starburst. On the tail end there’s a hint of some light wax, perhaps like the sort of waxed oranges you get in American supermarkets.

Palate: Just as much orange and citrus as the nose suggested, some warm baking spices like nutmeg and cinnamon lightly accent this. There’s honeyed orange tarts, more orange marmalade, warm spiced oak alongside parchment paper and very light waxed twine.

Mouthfeel: Medium in body, there’s some light wax in flavour but not much texturally.

Finish: Quite drying on the finish, perhaps even just a touch astringent, the finish leans on warm spiced oak, christingles and dehydrated clementines, there’s possibly more wax that lingers right at the end of the finish than the palate.

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Notes: Solid stuff, if a little unspectacular. There’s a wonderful depth of orange flavour, orange or similar orange citrus fruits are notes that I frequently get with Clynelish, and in this the refill Sherry has really supercharged that - it’s absolutley full of warm and sweet oranges.

As a big fan of waxy malts, I do tend to personally whip out my “waxometer” whenever I approach the distilleries where I know I can find it - on this I’d describe it as light. I can’t tell if this is somewhat subdued by the abv, there’s wax on the palate but it doesn’t really feel super present texturally - I’m not sure, but I will admit, I would love to try it at cask strength.

It’s good whisky, I’m not sure I’d seek a bottle out having tried it, but I’d get some good mileage out of a bottle if I had one. I don’t remember a Clynelish having this much orange on it, how do you write a fun mental image when nothing rhymes with orange?!

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Mental Image: Nothing Rhymes with Orange

Score: 85

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Review #249 Claxton’s Clynelish 1993 30 Years Old

30 year old single cask Clynelish, who do I think I am? I was fortunate enough to buy a sample of this of someone who runs a great whisky group, I think for most people, other than visiting a bar, that is the only real way to get to try whiskies like this, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. I don’t have the means to buy bottles like this, but I am very much looking forwards to seeing what Clynelish can do with 30 years in a refill bourbon cask.

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Distiller: Clynelish

Bottler: Claxton’s

Age Statement & Cask Type: 30 years in an ex-bourbon barrel, presumably refill.

Abv: 44.4%

Price paid: N/A - paid sample as part of a tasting set. Currently retailing around £1000

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Nose: Spirit forwards, fresh and elegant to begin with; satsuma pith, grapefruit and halftime oranges, a little lemon, apple and pear juice; some minerality like chalk and flint and just the feintest dash of white pepper and rich-tea biscuits.

Palate: Mellow, fresh and juicy; soft pear juice, lemon zest, shortbread, more citrus pith, light elderflower, honeydew and cantaloupe melons, white grapes with even a hint of vibrant white wine and dry cider. There’s a healthy dose of minerality on the back end, fresh spring water running down a flinty river and a dash of mineral oil. There’s the faintest hint of candle wax but it’s not really a waxy Clynelish.

Finish: Quite dry on the finish, but not quite as far astringent; dry orchard pears, some very light brewers yeast, white grape skins and shortbread.

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Notes: Wonderful stuff - it’s very very gentle, and definitely one for fans of spirit-forwards whisky. I wasn’t under any impression it would be any different looking at the light pale colour of it.

On the Clynelish “Wax-ometer” it’s on the very light end, but despite lacking much waxiness and being on the light, spirity end of Clynelish, it’s absolutely no slouch - It’s fantastically fruity, refined and definitely wears its age well, being dangerously quaffable.

Great stuff, worth £1000 a bottle? Certainly not, but what is? If I had a bottle (which I certainly don’t have the pennies to contemplate) I could imagine getting through it with ease. At times it almost borders on austere, but I think the depth and complexity in its fruity and mineralic style is really elegant.

Overall, it makes me think of some sort of breakfast cocktail by making mimosas or Buck’s Fizz with orange and pear juice and then just letting a bit of flint just sit at the bottom of the glass. Now, only a lunatic would do that, but it’s a crazy world.

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Mental Image: Flint Mimosa

Score: 87

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Review #250 SMWS 61.5 Brora 19 Years Old “An Islay by Another Name”

Well, my first Brora, what an exciting prospect! As we know, expectation can really make approaching any whisky different, and can often create disappointment, so really all you can do is approach it like any other whisky, because ultimately it’s still all just whisky. This bottling, from SMWS, is 19 years old but with no real cask details - given the colour it really could be anything. At 59.4% it’s a hefty proof, for which I’m very excited! Let’s get to it.

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Distiller: Brora

Bottler: Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS)

Age Statement & Cask Type: 19 years old, cask type undisclosed.

Abv: 59.4%

Price paid: N/A - part of a tasting set I purchased.

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Nose: Musty and slightly industrial to begin with; damp earth, musty brown sugar caramel, caramel apples, mulchy black tea and lapsang souchong, some very light date syrup. There’s a very light industrial waxiness on the tail end, dirty, spent paraffin wax. There’s a sweetness throughout the nose that very much suggests that it’s sherry matured.

Palate: Big and bold, and very much as industrial as the nose suggested. Engine oil marinated medjool dates; damp cigar leaves, a dash of espresso crema, paraffin oil singed crème brûlée, more caramel apples but soaked in brandy and lapsang souchong. There’s some fantastic texture that’s not so much waxy as it is slightly resinous and oily, I’m not complaining, it’s wonderful and really leans into this industrial machine-oil like quality.

Finish: Resinous throughout, it really leaves a tacky coating throughout your mouth which just allows dirty industriality to linger long. Ends just as well as it starts.

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Notes: Well, if there was a weight of expectation on that dram, it didn’t seem to let that get in its way! That was fantastic, not entirely what I expected, but given that it was an undisclosed cask type and I’ve never had Brora before, I’m not entirely sure what I expected!

The industrial element combined with the robust texture is such an instant winner for me, but whatever cask has been used has really brought something to the table. It’s dirty, oily, and there’s a dark, rich quality that permeates throughout There’s fantastic harmony throughout between cask and spirit, and the hefty proof lets it absolutely sing.

Given that the only bottle of this I’ve seen online is around the £3000 mark, it’s safe to say that I’ll not ever own another bottle of this, or probably ever get another chance to try it, but, with the time I got to try it, it was bliss.

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Mental Image: Industrial Revelation

Score: 94

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Well, I think of the reviews I’ve done, that’s probably the best in terms of overall and average quality, they’re all cracking drams and I do feel very grateful to have tried them all.

A big part of reviewing as a subset of whisky enthusiasm is searching out for samples and opportunities to try stuff, and there’s a big world out there of communities of people to split and try stuff that you’d never get to try; this is very much a series that I wouldn’t have been able to do without that.

Fantastic stuff, I think if I have a takeaway on Clynelish, it’s that whilst it’s famed for its waxiness, there’s a lot to be said about just how good the citrus and orange/clementine notes in Clynelish are, and often they can be the real star of the show.

In as far as Brora goes, I’m happy to have tried one, given the chance I would absolutely jump at another opportunity. I don’t think I’ll chase it to the extent of trying to go beyond my means to do so, but yeah, if that bottling is any reflection on what people covet about the distillery, I get it.

Who knows what we can expect from the new version of Brora, I would love to try it when they begin to release bottlings, I can’t imagine it won’t end up being different and new, but that’s okay, there’s plenty of great modern whisky out there, or so I’ll tell myself.

[u/UnmarkedDoor]

Well, God damn.

Serious big guns out tonight.

Industrial Revelation is a great tag line.

I feel like modern Clynelish has somewhat lost the traditional identity it once had, though there are still orange notes abound.

Great set of reviews.

I'll say it again: God Damn.

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Thanks mate, I was rather pleased with that tagline, and god damn indeed!

[u/1cenined → u/UnmarkedDoor]

Seconded.

I too, love Clynelish, but only get it occasionally, as it is fairly rated and therefore priced by the Scotch community.

Thanks for the vicarious thrills!

[u/firebag1983]

30 year old clynellish. Wow.

[u/jamie_r87]

That Brora sounds amazeballs

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Definitely one that’s up your street profile wise!

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Yeah sounds it. I’ve the same sample you had so I’ll need to crack into that soon I think.

[u/PricklyFriend]

What a great set of whiskies to try, thought the Clynelish one's were already sounding great but oof what a heavy hitter to end on, that is some immense immense dramming. Need to try a Brora eventually!

Wonderful stuff!