Clynelish 1997 (Whisky in Leiden)

Tomorrow 14th of April, Dutch retailer Whiskysite.nl is organising a festival Whisky in Leiden (tickets are sold out I’m afraid).

For their festival bottling, Dominiek “The Whiskyman” Bouckaert selected a Clynelish 1997 matured in a refill sherry hogshead. Actually they’ll split the cask as the rest is bottled in a new “classic” series by The Whiskyman.

Clynelish 15 yo 1997 (53,5%, Whisky in Leiden 2012, refill sherry hogshead, 180 btl.)

Nose: starts a little shy but develops a remarkably balanced Clynelish nose, switching nicely between mineral / austere notes (flints, wax, grass) and sweeter notes (orange candy, lemon candy, apple peel). Growing increasingly aromatic until it settles on nice toffee / strawberry notes. Great Clynelish.

Mouth: oily, with big citrus and wax. Quite some grapefruit zest. A very light bitterness as well (think Campari or bitter oranges) with a soft mustardy edge. Still a nice candied sweetness in the background. Ginger. Again a faint toffee / mocha note towards the end.

Finish: medium long, clean, with fruity sweetness and slightly sharper citrus zest.

No sherry influence that we could detect, but that doesn’t matter. Just high quality medium aged Clynelish. Something we like to have on our shelves at all times. Available from Whiskysite.nl. Around € 60.

Score: 89/100