Scotch Whisky Review #208: The Ultimate Clynelish 21 Year (1996)

Distillery: Clynelish

Bottler: van Wees

Region: Highland

ABV: 46%

Cask Type: Refill Sherry Butt

Age: 21 Year. Distilled October 8th, 1996. Bottled November 2nd, 2017.

Color: 1.1, Burnished.

Nose: (according to the wife) There’s a lot of tropical juice notes here. Its a blend of a few juices with a prominent pineapple base. There’s a bit of honey as well as a little bit of floral tea.

Palate: This is very bright with a lightly creamy mouthfeel. The tropical fruit notes from the nose make themselves available again here. There’s papaya, a bit of guava, some under-ripe mango, and some pineapple juice. Then a familiar banana-esque note pops its head which remind me heavily of banana Runts

, complete with the bit of waxiness and artificial banana notes. With a bit of water, it becomes very creamy. The gauva note along with the banana Runts note also intensify.

Finish: Fairly long. The pineapple juice continues here before giving way to the waxy-banana note that was so present in the palate.

Conclusion: There are some things I’ve come to expect from a Clynelish but tropical fruit notes are not one of them. This whisky is packed full of tropical fruit from start to finish which go very well with the waxy-banana note of the Runts candy banana. The banana candy though does tend to dominate proceedings a bit and while I enjoy the flavor, some better balancing of flavors would’ve made this even better. Still, it’s very good and I’d love to have a bottle of this around.

Final Score: 82.

Scotch Whisky Review #208, Highland Review #42, Whisky Network Review #290

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.