Special Releases 12yo vs Mystery Malt 10yo | Various ABV

The W-Word

Surely this is what Clynelish is known for?

Not the rude W, obviously - the waxiness.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a whisky enthusiast mention Clynelish without drifting, sooner or later, toward that candle-wax, beeswax refrain. It smells of it, it tastes of it, and - most importantly - it feels of it: that satin, slightly oily texture that makes the whole dram glide rather than simply flow.

And then there’s the folklore that this W-ness was once lost. Spirit receivers scrubbed out by overzealous maintenance or refurbishment. Maybe someone armed with a shovel, a pressure washer, and enough industrial cleaner to de-grease the prop shaft on an articulated truck.

This is the first in a short series I’ll share over the coming days where I’ll compare two releases from the same distillery, incidentally one from the ‘official’ source and another from an independent bottler. For the reasons stated above, I’m starting with a distillery that evokes reactions from whisky enthusiasts everywhere.

There’s something deeply Scottish, and oddly comforting, about the notion that a cornerstone of a beloved Highland malt’s character might have been powered by decades of accumulated distillery gunk. It’s just braw. Which leaves the only question that matters: will the W return? And if so, how many years does the gunk need to build back up before Clynelish feels properly, gloriously waxy again?

Has that already happened? Folklore once more as we hear that - after each scheduled maintenance - the gunk is either left in situ or replaced afterwards. Personally, I would love to know if there was a meeting of industrial chemists in Diageo just to discuss these possibilities.

I have been to Clynelish Distillery, a recent trip to Dornoch saw me do the extra miles up to the village of Brora. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and the distillery and visitor centre were closed. With the visitor centre closing permanently in early in 2026 I have perhaps permanently missed my chance.

When I sat down to write this my plan was to not mention wax at all, but I have become the cliché I was looking to avoid. So what is Clynelish, physically, in the real world where things are measured in “millions of litres”? It’s a Diageo workhorse that has been around a long time. The original distillery on the site kicks off in 1819 (founded by the Duke of Sutherland, because… of course it was), and then the version most of us actually drink from was plonked next door in 1967 when the demand for blending stock was at its highest.

For a while - and for very interesting reasons that can be covered in another review - they ran the two side by side like an awkward family gathering; the older distillery was originally brought on stream to make peated spirit and was renamed Brora in 1969 - after the village. It then shut its doors in 1983 before reappearing decades later, revisioned on a legend of whisky connoisseur happenstance and aimed at a different market altogether - and charged accordingly it seems.

Modern Clynelish kept the original name. It runs six stills, and is still churning away up in Brora today up to roughly 4.8 million litres of alcohol a year (give or take, depending which clipboard you trust).

And yes, before anyone romanticises it too hard: most of that torrent is headed straight into Johnnie Walker, not into your nearest whisky nerd’s “special shelf”. Mention Clynelish at a whisky tasting and pretty much the whole room will usually think “14” in unison because the 14-year-old official bottling is basically the distillery’s public spokesperson at best and maybe only known offspring at worst. But if you rummage around a bit, Clynelish is absolutely everywhere: special releases, the occasional cask-strength belter, and a multitude of independent bottlings.

For something made at that scale, the spirit itself is somehow still a bit weird, and in a lovely way.

Review 1/2

Clynelish 12yo, official bottling, 2022 Special Releases “Legends Untold”, American oak maturation with an Oloroso and PX finish, 58.5% ABV
£148 original retail, £70 paid at auction

Yes this is one of those pesky Diageo special releases – the ones that you are almost certain will be great but you cannot bring yourself to pay the ridiculous price point Diageo continuously seems to ask for them.

This is the Legends Untold Chapter 2 - Elusive Expressions bottling, apparently. It has a wildcat on the label – not the most ridiculous thing you will see on a Diageo label of course as you do at least get wildcats in Scotland.

This was aged 12 years in refill American oak before a mixture of PX and Oloroso finishing casks.

Score: 7/10

**Very Good Indeed.**
***TL;DR***
*A hit in more ways than one*

Nose

This comes across as very bourbon-cask forward on the first nosing (vanilla-oak and orchard fruit), with only a really faint hint of the PX/Oloroso finish showing at the edges. There is some candied apple and apple peel; pear drops; vanilla pod and icing-sugar sweetness; a bit of honey and butter but with a hint of chalk and a touch of solvent.

Palate

With the first sip it tastes a bit on the harsh side, like a younger spirit, but I think that reflects the face-punch ABV and it thankfully disappears on subsequent sips. There is an abundance of orange and some chilli-spice with sweet tropical fruit and woody notes. There is a definite peppery aspect and butter. The mouthfeel is ‘creamy’ perhaps, rather than the W word.

There’s a nice sherry influence that comes in at the back of the dram and which stays with you for a long time, incredibly long and satisfying, almost daring you not to see how long it’ll keep warming your mouth and throat; the dare being whether you’ll take another sip before the last one has properly moved on.

It does become very slightly drying.

The Dregs

At 58.5% ABV it lands with real cask-strength: it is fairly dense, weighty, almost oily, clinging to the glass as if reluctant to let go - oh and it is boozy. The first sip is all impact, but keep returning to it and it begins to unravel - each pass teasing another layer, another little flourish of flavour, another note you swear wasn’t there a moment ago.

It holds itself together beautifully too: sweetness, spice and structure, it has balance before the sherry casks make their entrance in the afterglow. The longer I’ve spent with it, the more I’ve flirted with the idea of pushing it to an 8/10… but I’m still not entirely convinced it has quite earned that step up.

Very good though.

Score: 7/10

Review 2/2

Clynelish 10yo, Thompson Brothers Mystery Malt, Series 5, ex-bourbon hogshead, 46.3% ABV
£65 paid

There was a good range of Clynelish bottles in the Mystery Malt Series 5 release. In fact there were five different bottlings ranging from 24 years old down to my 10-year-old.

So, from that perspective I maybe felt I’d lost out a bit with the lowest age statement of them all.

Score: 5/10

**Average.**
***TL;DR***
*Was this one pulled out the barrel too early?*

Nose

The nose is particularly light and fresh, absolutely dominated by citrus notes and an air of salinity. There are some other fresh fruits, with apple and pear alongside it.

Palate

When I first tried to articulate what this tasted of my initial thought was “not enough” and I think that’s maybe spot on. It has a pleasant lightness of flavour and a creaminess of mouthfeel. There is some lemon and a load of vanilla coming from the Bourbon cask together with some orange notes, but the taste soon fades to a dullness and a dry palate. It has a medium finish but it’s not one I relish.

The Dregs

I’ll be honest: this Thompson Brothers Clynelish left me a little deflated. Nothing is actively wrong - there’s no ugliness here, no off-putting roughness - yet the whole thing feels oddly underlit.

For 10 year old casks it’s like they’ve been ushered into the bottle a full four years ahead of where its contemporaries would stroll onto the scene as an official bottling, and to my palate it simply hasn’t earned the fast-track. Maybe someone tasted a spark and called it a fire, we can only assume so. But in the glass, for me, I can’t shake the feeling it needed more time to become properly itself.

It gives me no pleasure whatsoever to score this a 5/10, I’ve been back over it a few times to validate my own decision.

The Final Dregs

I’m pretty sure that the Thompson Brothers know a fair amount about Clynelish - and they certainly know more than me - it’s just up the road from Dornoch and they use a fair bit of it in their output, but the official bottling is definitely ahead on this one.

Not that it should be a surprise, there is no question that the spirit in the barrels at almost every Diageo distillery includes some brilliant liquid. Most people only object to what they do with it afterwards.

The Clynelish official bottling is worth £70 auction price, but not the full price £148, keep an eye out for it on special offer - like all Diageo Special Releases these days.

Getting this Thompson Bros Mystery Malt Clynelish is of course a lottery but let’s hope that if you reveal a Clynelish from Series 5 that it’s one of the other four releases as this 10 year old was a little average.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. CC

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