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Clynelish 14 year old review

Clynelish 14YO review

Located in Highland region, Clynelish 14 year old single malt whisky comes from a distillery built opposite the nowadays silent Brora distillery. The original, Old Clynelish distillery was built in 1819 but in 1969, changed its name to Brora. Brora made heavily peated whisky in 1969-1973 for blending, covering a shortage of Islay whisky caused by a drought. Brora distillery, which today has a cult status, had to close down in 1983. New Clynelish distillery was built in 1968 and continued the theme of making malt whisky for blended Scotch.

Clynelish 14 year old single malt whisky review

Clynelish distillery got my attention last September when we held a Compass Box tasting with our local whisky society. The quality of the tasting was so good and Clynelish was the base to many of Compass Box’s quality products, that it got me thinking: I have to get some Clynelish single malts.

And I did get my hands on some 14 year old Clynelish. Which actually is the only expression they have to offer. So Clynelish 14yo equals their core range. You can get Clynelish malts of different ages from various independent bottlers but the 14 year old single malt released in 2002 is at the moment, the only official core range bottling from the new Clynelish distillery.

Clynelish is also used in the making of Johnnie Walker Gold Label, which is no wonder because Diageo owns both of them.

Clynelish 14yo has True Grit

The theme of rebooting is very strongly involved when thinking about Clynelish. With this dram, only good remakes come to mind. Even though I haven’t tasted anything from their past. Clynelish 14yo offers good character and it has a mellow soft side as well. So I couldn’t some up with any better reference than True Grit by Coen brothers. Great remake offering same kind of ingredients, dry and dark humor combined with gritty performance and characters.

Matured in:
Ex-Bourbon casks
Colour: Amber
Nose: Sweet tangerines and zesty drops of lemon. Very light and fresh. Gentle smoke is present, so gentle it’s very hard to detect. Water and time in the glass bring out nice floral notes.
Taste: Interesting mix of oranges and ginger – bit spicy. Crispy and nutty malt with perfectly smooth vanilla. Drops of water make the taste bitter. And add nutmeg notes.
Finish: Bitter fruity citrus notes. Like slightly old and dried oranges with acid feel. Strong notes of raisins rise from the aftertaste. Even though the powerful raisin notes arrive very late, I still would have expected a better finish. Nicely long but bit dull.
Balance: We’re on the same line with Ralfy about the finish, disappointing a bit. Great taste and nice light aromas. Overall a good dram.

Clynelish 14yo Scoring

88
Nose:Taste:Finish:Balance:
21
23
22
22
Distillery: Clynelish Region: Highland ABV: 46%

Ralfy also likes Clynelish 14yo, scoring 87 points for it. Some negative remarks about the average finish and caramel coloring. Check out his review:

Johannes Lindblom
Johannes Lindblom
Finnish whisky enthusiast and the author of WhiskyRant! A digital marketing professional by day – a whisky reviewer and informer by night.

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