26.209 Vitamin Sea | 61.6% ABV
Score: 5/10
Average.
TL;DR
An enjoyable Clynelish, but needs more time in the cask
Searching for another epiphany
Clynelish doesn’t seem to enter many discussions of peoples’ “epiphany whiskies.” It doesn’t have a heavy peaty punch, thick sherried sweetness, or “funk” that seem to characterise many epiphany whisky experiences, those drams that really dig their hooks into us early in our journeys and get us interested in flavour and experience rather than simply drinking.
Clynelish 14yo was one of my epiphany whiskies early on. I was just getting seriously into all of this whisky malarky, buying and trying whatever I could afford, going through the supermarket 40%-ers, when I discovered the limited range of 20cl bottles of several Diageo distilleries.
This was a pleasant surprise, as I had already at that stage started to accumulate bottles that were gathering dust that I wasn’t going back to regularly. So, the prospect of 20cl bottles without committing to a full bottle that may sit unloved on my shelf was promising. I quickly made my way through a bottle of Lagavulin 16yo (another epiphany dram) alongside 20cls of Cragganmore 12yo, Caol Ila 12yo, Talisker 10yo, and Clynelish 14yo.
I fondly remember that simple moment well. My partner having gone to bed, I was relaxing on the couch staring out the window listening to music late in the evening, exploring a dram of the 14yo. After a few initial sips, the next taste became a swirling symphony of zesty orange peel, gentle smoke, soft melon, and buttery brine. Wow, I thought. That Clynelish came alive for me that evening, helping me to see how age and ABV can magically create layers and depth that I really had not encountered before. And that combination of flavours was so damn interesting. I’d never tasted anything like it.
Fast forward nearly four years, and here I am this evening with another Clynelish. This time with a recent SMWS release.
Review
SMWS Clynelish 9yo, 26.209, Vitamin Sea, 61.6% ABV
£59 Sold out
Nose
Chalky, a floral coastal element…floral wet rocks? Some light fruits alongside a soft, distant metallic quality.
Palate
Icing sugar sweetness, floral minerality, chalkiness again. Alcohol heat, which at 61.6% is to be expected. You might call this chalkiness something like candle wax (doesn’t “waxiness” have to enter into every Clynelish tasting notes?). With a few drops of water some more floral fruitiness comes through alongside some slight maltiness.
The Dregs
I suppose on some level I’m still trying to find a Clynelish that offers me that same swirling, zesty experience from years ago. But alas, I’ve changed, whisky changes, and in my brain I know that that’s not likely going to happen, at least in the same way. Such is life.
SMWS releases Clynelish on a somewhat regular basis. Having tried several of these recently, this is one of the better ones. This is very pleasant, but hot, and with some nice potential which hasn’t been allowed to come into its own.
Which brings me to a gripe I’ve had with recent SMWS Clynelish releases; most of them have been taken out of the cask and bottled at less than ten years of age. What would this have tasted like with another year – or two, or three – in the cask? What if those sugary icing, coastal, chalky/waxy, and floral notes had a few more years to develop, integrate, and marry together? If I was on the SMWS tasting panel (which I’m not, alas) I would have pushed to keep this in the warehouse for just a bit longer. This is good, but it could have been much more interesting. With a business model that requires releasing 15-20 new whiskies every month, SMWS are likely – and required by the relentless economics they’ve created for themselves – to release some casks before their proper time.
While I’m happy to drink and enjoy this, not the least reason of which it’s one of the only Clynelish bottlings I can afford. Perhaps like you, I look longingly at those mid-1990s Signatory Vintage Clynelish bottling and in the further distance, Brora, now mostly out of reach. The flavour profile is indeed interesting, but with this one I just can’t help but wonder what it might have become with a little more patience.
Score: 5/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. DD
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