Age Matters is a new series by The Whiskyman. The labels feature big age statements, moving away from the current trend of hiding the age and claiming age is not very important when it comes to whisky. In fact even the distillery is hard to spot.
This ‘17’ is a 17 years old Clynelish 1996. In the current line-up there’s also a Ledaig 15, Ben Nevis 16, Littlemill 21 and Bruichladdich 22.
Clynelish 17 yo 1996 (53,3%, The Whiskyman ‘Age Matters’ 2013)
Clynelish 17 yo 1996 (53,3%, The Whiskyman ‘Age Matters’ 2013)Nose: not the obvious sherry influence. There’s spiced Mexican cocoa and toffee as well as some dried fruits, alongside more classical Clynelish notes like wet limestone and lemon. Wet hay and soft earthy hints. Leather. A bit of a Janus.
Mouth: again a slightly strange combination. Lemon, gravel, maybe wet cardboard. The sweeter sides returns, with dark chocolate, but this is no sweet sherry bomb. Some wax. Pepper, ginger and green herbs, as well as a mustardy edge. Rather dry.
Finish: quite long, herbal and zesty.
An atypical Clynelish to say the least. It keeps switching between profiles, hesitating between the distillery character and the sherry cask. Neither of them really pushes through. A rather educational release from a bottler that’s known for exemplary Clynelish. Around € 85.
Score: 85/100