Clynelish 1995/2014 Whisky-Fässle
There are a some very good independent bottlers in Germany, and Whisky-Fässle is one of them. Jens Unterweger’s label is famous for its quality releases and its duck-themed labels. What’s up with those labels by the way? There must be a reason for them, anyone care to tell me?
Anyway, on to the spirit itself. Todays review is of a Clynelish he bottled late last year. For a lot of my tasting notes I use samples, but of this one I actually own a bottle. And boy am I glad I do!
Clynelish 1995/2014 (52,7%, Whisky-Fässle)
Nose: Candlewax followed by fruit, from green to more tropical. Freshly cut apples, lemon, pineapple, banana and mango. There’s some ginger here too, and after a while it gets a bit grassy with some cane sugar. But in the end it is the fruit that returns and dominates.
Taste: Waxy with orange, lemon, tangerine and a bit of oak (sawdust). Some vanilla, and chalk with ginger and grapefruit, also some wood spices.
Finish: White grapes, pear and apples and lots of wax. Very long.
Rating: 91
Not much to say here, except for that it is certainly one of the best modern Clynelishes I’ve tasted. At a retail price of 105 euro it seemed a wee bit expensive at first, but this kind of quality is easily worth that kind of money in todays market. Don’t bother trying to buy one, it sold out fast. If you’re lucky you can get a bottle on the secondary market, but it’ll cost you a lot more than its original price.
Thijs is a spirits writer and accredited liquorist from The Netherlands. He runs the blog Words of Whisky and contributes to a number of Dutch and international publications.
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