Clynelish 15 y.o. Scotch Malt Whisky Society, SMWS 26.82, 8.1995 (Soft Light at Sunset), refill Sherry Butt, 571 btl., 57,9%

Comment: Fruit-oils, farmyardy tones and fresh coffee join the above already mentioned trademark aromas – with just the right amount of sherry fusion. Peaches and big vanilla become bolder with time and set this apart from many other Clynelish bottlings. Also, sandal wood scents, macadamia and some shy berries appear. Soft smoke and spices add to the fruitiness in nice balance. The taste, which encapsulates all the mentioned notes, is wrapped in a vanilla cloud and needs no water. Only hints of sherry can be found on the sweet palate. It is more a creamy crowd-pleaser, a bit like a Starbucks vanilla coffee drink. Nice, though.

Score: 89+

Clynelish 14 y.o. Single Cask Collection 14. 07. 1997 – 13.02.2012, refill Sherry Hogshead 6891, 302 btl., 56,8%

Comment: A sister cask (#6888) from Bladnoch’s warehouses with 158l was auctioned at Krüger’s for 2.305 Euro. I should have bid then, I was tempted, but didn’t go for it. At the current bottle price of almost 60 Euro it is worth almost 10k – nice gain! Darn! This also shows that there is a lot of cask swapping going on behind the scenes as it becomes harder to buy quality whisky from distilleries. Well, let’s not cry over by-gones and taste the neighboring cask 6891: Being darker in colour than the SMWS, this Austrian choice has more dark wood, leather and spice, but bears many resemblances to the SWMS-version in general (the basic character, coffee, farmyard) in the beginning. The sherry

Clynelish Sister Cask sold in Auction

evocates dried fruit (sultanas, dates, red grapes and cherries) and fruit cake aromas and renders more depth. But after a while these two drams depart from each other more and more. Milk chocolate, almonds and walnuts ride in, welcome guys. It is also slightly more on the dry and coastal side. On the palate, the dark and dried fruits dominate, but are countered by powerful spice (pepper, chili). Toffee and woody spices fight in a long  finish that never seems to end, really. Wow! With water this Clynelish becomes more civilized and creamy, not better or worse, just more approachable … and there is way more chocolate. Maybe not the most typical, but: this cask seems like the more mature and bolder brother of the two versions of today – with lots of character and some dark sides to it. Very good and very interesting.

Score: 91-

Bladnoch 21 y.o. Single Cask Collection 30.1.1990, Bourbon Hogshead, 51,9%

Comment: I like Bladnoch, but recently I had some disappointingly thin and unexpressive bottlings. This one is much better and talkative right from the start with quite a potent nose. Notes of vanilla, grass, flowers, buttered toast, lemon, orange zest, peaches, malt, apples, pears, licorice and raise from the glass in oily fashion. The taste doesn’t let you down either: malt and licorice, then almonds, grass and lime plus a discrete peppery spiciness paired with a whiff of smoke. Unusual but nice. Medium length in the finish.

Score: 88

Linkwood 27 y.o. Single Cask Collection 1984, Bourbon Hogshead, 57,0%

Comment: Linkwood is an underrated distillery, one for the second look, not so much on primary notes. There were few bottlings I didn’t like. It is essential to give these drams some time to develop. I hope this one is in line with my positive experience.  Let’s see: well-balanced, I must say. I am getting unfiltered apple juice, apricots, lemon zests, flower bouquet, spicy white oak with good Bourbon influence (e.g. vanilla, fudge, cloves, some rum notes), cinnamon, marzipan, marshmallows, smoking sticks in an Indian restaurant and sandal wood. It is becoming even more high class in the mouth, wow, this is wonderfully balanced and needs no water in general – but water helps it in terms of accessibility and more flavours come out, whatever you prefer here. Close to perfection in maturity and very complex, it is hard to nail down aromas on the mile-high-layered mid-palate, very fruity (also grapefruit, citrus fruit and white peaches), exotic spices, flavoured marzipan, white chocolate and wonderful oak. The long finish leaves you positively puzzled and demands for another sip to grasp this complexity. At a price point below 100.- Euro, this is a real steal! Please put a bottle of this on reserve for me, Roland.

Score: 91

Blair Athol 12 y.o. Single Cask Collection 4.8.1998, Bourbon Hogshead, 60,3%

Comment: A classic Highland nose with honey, malt, licorice, ginger, white pepper, heather and grass, peach, vanilla, roasted nuts and cereals. On the palate, it is hot but also fruity (peaches and pineapple) –  a real honest malt with good intensity, somehow reminding me of Lochnagar. Water helps to polish the edges. The long finish focuses on the fruity aspects and adds big vanilla. Old style, good whisky, really fair in price (below 40.-).

Score: 87

Port Dundas 37 y.o., Duncan Taylor Rare Auld, 01.1973 – 04.2010, Sherry Cask 128324, 259 btl., 56,1%

Comment: Is this an ultra-premium rum? Worlds collide here in a nice way. Fresh despite its age, like a Caribbean breeze in Key West. Sugar cane, big vanilla- and coffee-notes, tobacco, chocolate, Cointreau, limejuice, tinned pineapples, coconut, agave and mint, fudge and great oak (that doesn’t go overboard). The sherry is really discrete. Awesome all the way, if you are into mature rum or grain. The more old grain I try, the more I love them. Another quite undiscovered category…

Score: 90

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