Scotch Whisky Review #454: Clynelish 16 Year Four Corners of Scotland Collection

Distillery: Clynelish.

Region: Highland.

Age: 16 Year.

ABV: 49.3%.

Price: £195 at the Clynelish Distillery.

Color: 0.7, Amber.

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Nose: It smells quite like a decadent dessert. A lemon tart that has a nice dusting of powdered sugar on top comes to mind along with a rich vanilla custard or a crème brûlée.

Palate: The lemon-y dessert notes from the nose stick around quite heavily. You get candied lemon slices, a lemon pound cake with a waxy vanilla frosting, and a bit of lemon meringue. Something akin to shortbread or a borderline overdone pie crust adds a bit of depth to this. With a drop of water, something that reminds me heavily of a gelatin-based dessert comes through (lemon flavored, of course). It is somewhere between a jello and a panna cotta.

Finish: Medium in length. More of the borderline overdone pie crust and lemon hard candies wrap things up.

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Conclusion: Last year, I had the pleasure of dropping up by Clynelish Distillery during a week long trip to the Scottish Highlands. While at the distillery, the poor tour guide was trying to convince us that one of their “core flavor profiles” was tropical fruit. I don’t think she believed it herself and clearly no one in our group did either with everyone pointing more toward citrus, wax, and honey. This 16 year old bottling really leans heavily into the citrus element for sure. There are lemon flavored desserts stuffed in this from first whiff to the final lingering aftertaste. Overall it is quite tasty but it certainly was spendy and I’m not sure I’d grab another bottle given the chance.

Final Score: 83.

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Scotch Whisky Review #454, Highland Review #91, Whisky Network Review #611

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky and I will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection if feasible.
• 85-89: Very good to amazing, almost the complete product and I’m likely wanting a bottle or two.
• 80-84: Quite good, pleasant overall though there is usually a few things that could be improved still.
• 75-79: Good, enjoyable to drink but ultimately flawed.
• 70-74: Alright, solid and 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.