A new SMWS Clynelish distilled on 27 Feburary 2004 and matured in a 1st fill ex-Bourbon barrel for 9 years. One of 198 bottles. Oily & Coastal profile.
Nose: Waxy lemons and oranges make for a half sweet, half sour opener. Grape juice and grapefruits reinforce the bittersweet further. There’s some oiliness here, which one might expect from this distillery. Overt sweetness is provided by light vanilla and creamy fudge.
Taste: A lovely clingy body – again, to be expected – with lemons and oranges joined by roasted almonds, vanilla and a very light earthiness in the back of the palate. Cask influence is well in check with just the lightest touch of pepper.
Finish: Short to medium, quite fruity, a little bit drying and strangely some aspirin-like chalkiness.
This Clynelish has a lovely viscous oily body with pronounced fruits and just the right amount of cask to let the distillate shine. The finish however is a bit of a let-down, delivering calcite rather than some expected wax.