I’ll keep this intro brief due to the sheer number of tasting notes I want to write in this post. These drams were all opened and poured at the Lindores Whiskyfest that takes place at Hotel Bero in Oostede, Belgium once a year, usually during the last weekend of October. As you will see below the quality of the bottles that get opened speaks for itself and is more than enough reason to entice anyone serious about whisky to attend. Although for me the true highlight is the opportunity to see many friends that I spend far too little time with throughout the rest of the year. As we all know, the true quality of a bottle lies as much in the company you keep while drinking it as it does in the contents. So heartfelt thanks to all my friends who came along and were so generous with their  whisky and good company. Anyway, on with the tasting and, for what follows, I can only apoligise unreservedly.

The majority of these drams were poured at the infamous Nocturn with a few other choice highlights from the rest of the festival. Lets start with a Clynelish…

Clynelish 12yo OB for Chiano. Rotation 1960s. Short screw cap. 43%. 75cl. 

Colour: Pale white wine

Nose: A blizzard of white fruits, wild flowers, all kinds of pebbles, wet rocks, minerals, petrol, aged riesling, farmyards and a wonderfully lean waxiness. Like the cask strength Edward & Edward versions this is just about the purest expression of this unsexy old highlands style distillate. Only the lower strengths lends this one a little more grace and elegance. The coastal characters are more driven by floral qualities than the brutal briny edge of those stronger bottlings. Goes on with touches of wild parsley, butter, chamomile and darjeeling tea. An endlessly entertaining nose.

Palate: Very consistent with the palate, grass, green fruits, more minerals than you can shake a seashore at, lemon oil, touches of hay, olive oil, wax and a little peat. White pepper, coriander, mustard seeds all kinds of gentle coastal and spicy touches with more of these incredibly petroly and rieslingesque notes.

Finish: It hangs around for quite some time leaving a real tingly mineral fizz on the palate with a great spreading warmth down the chest. Linger notes of sunflower seeds, cereals, muesli, bonfire smoke and green tea.

Comments: It’s a rare thing indeed to taste 1950s Clynelish from the original distillery and this doesn’t dissappoint. I think this one isn’t quite the masterpiece of Edward & Edward bottlings but its up there as one of these exemplary old style official bottlings the likes of which are totally extinct these days. An emotionally charged dram if ever there was one.

Score: 92/100

Teaninich 1959 22yo Samaroli. 300 bottles. 46%. 75cl. 

Colour: Light gold

Nose: An immediate hit of fresh butter with sage, sorrel, wax, metal polish, all kinds of green and garden fruits, muesli, camphor and touches of lemon and orange juice. Very delicate citrus qualities combined with drier qualities like various teas and wood spices. The whole is also quite thick and oily with elements of faint old phenols, coal smoke and tar. Has a very discreet flicker of wood in there but, like with the Clynelish, it’s the distillate that does most of the talking. Goes on with all kinds of dried herbs, cereals and butter notes. Absolutely luscious.

Palate: A massive and flabby green fruit quality with plums, rosy apples, and then some bizarre but excellent touches of soy sauce, truffle oil and greengages. Gets waxier, tarrier, oilier and thicker with time, one of these big, fatty whiskies that engages every part of the palate. Savory notes of toasted seed breads, oatcakes and tarragon. There is also a tinge of sweetness from some vanilla pods and white chocolate. Focused and wonderfully balanced.

Finish: Long, waxy, herbaceous, oily, mineral and full of petrol, smoke and real glycerol fruity quality.

Comments: My favourite Teaninich by far, this would be great to compare with the 1957 Cadenhead dumpy. It’s incredible how much this distillery changed in the following decade and beyond from the time this was distilled. Truly fantastic old style malt, another small masterpiece by Mr Samaroli.

Score: 93/100

Springbank 33yo OB rotation 1970. Pear shaped bottle. No strength or capacity stated. 

Colour: Gold

Nose: A very strange kind of wax polish on top of a mix of metal notes, some thick farmyard qualities and then orangina, fresh orange juice and luxardo bitters. Has some nice biting notes of pepper and mustard seed in the background with a draped over coastal quality that drifts in and out of focus. Toasted brioche, nutmeg, chamomile and some veyr elegant minerals. This is quite an odd aroma that I suspect has undergone an unusual mix of OBE and slight oxidisation during its long stay in bottle. However I wouldn’t say its out of condition at all.

Palate: More of these weird notes of orange juice, chamomile tea, then a big brittle coastal streak with wax, hessian, dunnage, ancient peats, metal polish and iron filings, like sucking steel wool dipped in orange juice and wax polish. Once again this has obviously undergone quite an interesting journey while in bottle. The palate is a little weakish and cardboardy and gives up these odd touches of cider, fermenting hay and sour apples at times.

Finish: Long, miky and elegantly medicinal with these odd touches of salted porridge, muesli, minerals and buttered toast.

Comments: This is a very tricky one to score, the odd profile suggest it has probably been slightly deconstructed during its time in bottle. I would love to open another one to compare it, I imagine they could be very different. However this is still a fascinating and very tasty dram that is obviously the product of a bygone era. A real privilege to taste.

Score: 83/100 (however this could be drastically different from another bottle)

Macallan 1946. Bottled circa 1961. Securo Cap. Campbell, Hope & King. 80 proof. 26 2/3 fluid ounces.

Colour: Amber

Nose: It’s undeniably one of these old style Macallans that reeks of coal fires, touches of orange bitters, rancio, pipe tobacco, wet earth, soft, metallic phenols and an really elegant waxiness. Goes on with a wonderful note of crushed green peppercorns, tcp, old wood resins, dark fruits, hints of menthol, pipe smoke and boiler sheds and touches of stables and farmyards. With time there are more of these notes of old simmering peat and an increasing tropical fruit presence. This one really needs time in the glass to fully open up but its well worth the wait, it turns into a powerhouse of elegance, complexity and beauty.

Palate: Immediately rich, hugely spicy and with incredible bite, even after nearly 50 years in bottle this one still retains a brilliant presence and texture in the mouth. Old phenols, touches of coal, tar, wood fire smoke, hints of herbal toothpaste, old medicine, old coins, more rancio, glazed fruits, dundee cake, camphor and crushed hazelnuts. All kinds of flavours peeking through in the one, wonderful complexity and richness of flavour. Continues with more notes of tea, cocoa, dark fruits, mint creams, eucalyptus, tea tree oil and hints of white balsamico.

Finish: Long, warming, waxy, phenolic, a drying medical quality, dusty peats, all kinds of fruits and a bitter touch of dark chocolate.

Comments: What did you expect? It’s such a rare privilege to try one of these wartime Macallans but bottled at a much younger age. A truly poetic malt.

Score: 94/100

Glenfarclas 1953-2012 58yo OB for Wealth Solutions Poland. Cask 1674. 400 bottles. 47.2%. 70cl. 

Colour: Amber

Nose: A big whirlpool of honeycomb and all kinds of mint aromas at first nosing with delicate tobacco leaf, snickers bars, mixed nuts, all kinds of chocolate, orange blossom, tangerine liqueur, nougat, cocoanut and touches of rosewater. Gets leafy and spicier with time, revealing layers of dried herbs and more menthol qualities. The wood seems perfectly pitched here, not a whisper of aggression anywhere, it’s just an aromatic powerhouse that just keeps on evolving. With time we get all kinds of candied and glazed fruits, fruit preserves and little flecks of mineral smokiness in the background.

Palate: Beautiful and hauntingly elegant. Glowing embers of mint liqueur, dark dried fruits, ancient cognac, rancio,  hints of long aged demerara rums, sultanas and a streak of silky sea salt in the background. Probably due to the fact that this would have been distilled when Glenfarclas was still using quite a bit of peat. Goes on with white flowers, bittermints, dandelions, herbal teas, wood resin, mead, heather and molasses. Gets eventually savory and nutty again, the freshness is quite astounding in a malt of this age. No overwhelming woodiness or tannins, just layers of wonderful flavour.

Finish: Long, sticky and rich with touches of wood spice, nuts, more menthol qualities, caraway, white pepper and tiny hints of medicine.

Comments: It’s not a cheap bottle this one but it’s undeniably stunning. Well worth trying if you get the opportunity. A myriad of flavour and complexity on display here and not in the slightest bit tired, over wooded or mono-dimensional. In fact it has more vitality and freshness than many malts half its age.

Score: 94/100

Bowmore 1955-1974. OB 1/2 size ceramic bottle. No strength or capacity stated.

This incredibly rare beauty was bottled for the opening of the Bowmore visitors center in september 1974 and given to staff at the time, many of whom walked from the gates of the distillery merrily necking them at the end of the day.

Colour: Pale as fuck!

Nose: There’s going to have to be some censorship here at some point I think. This is just bewildering. It’s not even really like whisky. Did they use some sort of maceration process during distillation using a whole Waitrose of tropical fruits? It’s just the most vivd, pin-sharp and explosive combination of grapefruit, passion fruit, guava, pineapple, mango and… well you know what I mean. It’s just a wall of fruit behind which you could say there were minerals, all kinds of smoke and tiny bits of peat but that wouldn’t really be doing this stuff justice. The precision and delicacy of these aromas is just quite baffling really.

Palate: Whether or not this is cask strength I don’t know but it’s perfect whatever it is. Biting, fresh, complex and glorious. Keeping well up to speed with the nose, another barrage of fruit that gives way to the cleanest and purest kind of coastal elegance, a whole poem of fruits and seashore. There’s not much more to say about this. It’s utterly masterly.

Finish: Censored, and about time too.

Comments: There’s no other distillate in the world like old Bowmore as far as I’m concerned, this is utterly sublime. I think the fact that the seal on these bottles is super tight is also a big plus, it really arrests evaporation and keep the spirit in peak condition. I’ve fondled several of these little beauties and they’ve all been full to the hilt. Good news for anyone else that fancies opening one.

Score: 96/100

Ardbeg 1959-1985 25yo Cadenhead’s dumpy. Sherry matured. 46%. 75cl. 

Colour: Dark as fuck!

Nose: Oh dear. Censoring will have to be involved here too. It’s one of these rare sherry and peat combinations that seems more akin to a kind of liquified peat, tar, root beer and espresso cocktail. In the same way that the Bowmore seemed to personify everything that was utterly great about that distillery so to does this Ardbeg. It’s almost like the peat and sherry are fused at the waist as one, perfectly integrated, no flaws or chinks or imbalances of any kind. The peat is like some sort of simmering mulch, a quick mass of bubbling phenols, medicine and tar. You could throw a bottle of this into a log burner and be warm for a year. Although there are many who would promptly shoot you if you did.

Palate: There’s really not much point in me writing about this anymore, it would just be arduous for you. This is the kind of dram that makes you realise why you’re into whisky. It’s impossible to describe the coiled potency and fused perfection of these flavours. It’s just breathtaking, like being gently nullified with a wet sledgehammer made of peat turf while someone throws alternating buckets of saltwater and root beer in your face.

Finish: I fee like I’ve just brushed my teeth with a metal toothbrush covered in coffee and soil.

Comments: I’d go so far as to say this is probably the best Ardbeg I’ve ever had.

Score: 97/100

Now, how about a curtain call…

Laphroaig 1970 14yo. Samaroli. 60 bottles. 57.1%. 75cl. 

This was a very limited bottling done by Samaroli for a bar in Milan. Something I never thought I’d taste so thanks from the bottom of my heart to Thomas for this one.

Colour: Gold

Nose: This is much in the style of the ‘other’ 1970 Samaroli Laphroaig as I remember it, a brilliant and pristine coastline in a glass. Myriad aromas of kelp, sandalwood, rock pools, all kinds of seaweed, fresh oysters, crab meat and any other shellfish you care to mention. Like the greatest whiskies this one wears it’s alcohol incredibly deftly with a light prickle of salt and pepper but otherwise it’s all seashore, farmyard and fruit. With time it also starts to merge more farmyard qualities into this growing family of aromas. Graphite, green phenols, the stench of iodine like you spilt it on your hands and then butter, chives and herbal toothpaste. With water: little teases of tropical fruit begin to emerge now with increasingly vivid notes of fresh pineapple, mango and passion fruit. Then we get some big kippery qualities and touches of sea greens and floral soaps.

Palate: A simmering lather of peat embers, coal smoke, beach bonfires, white pepper, green tea, lemon sherbet, wet sand, minerals,  lime juice and olive oil. Superbly glycerol in its texture with all kinds of oils, farmyness and touches of cider apples, roasted malt and gentian spirit. The huge saltiness is relentless but kept in check by these wonderful notes of citrus, greasy peat and all minds of medical complexities. With water: there’s something slightly milkier about the palate now with more herbal notes of bay leaf, sage, tarragon and rosemary. Even more spellbinding with water.

Finish: An all nighter, one of these Laphroaigs that gets into your gums and battens down the hatches. Leaves your mouth strewn with ashes, lemon juice, smoked cereals, tropical fruit juice and simmering, medicinal peat.

Comments: It’s difficult to disengage from such a whisky on an emotional level but this is undeniably a spectacular dram, one that I’ll probably never try again but I’m truly happy that I did.

Score: 95/100.

Now, while we’re at it, here’s a couple of pictures of bits and pieces that were tasted but, for any number of reasons, notes were not recorded, much to your relief I’m sure.

Ok, I’m sure that’s quite enough. Something a little more ‘down to earth’ next time. Slante!

Today we’ll tackle the mid-fielders in this years releases. Each year there are the mid-aged malts from distilleries that are more commonly associated with bulk and blending than with exceptional single expressions. In the past we’ve seen Glen Spey, Port Dundas, Benrinnes and Pittyvaich to name but a few. This year sees the return of Dalwhinnie and Auchroisk at respectable ages.

One thing that these types of bottling flag up for me is a missed opportunity. The quality of these whiskies is often very high and they are no doubt respectable bottlings. But you can’t help but feel that a Glenlochy, Millburn or Clynelish might have been more favourable for special release status than the distilleries that often seem to be chosen. Of course they are hoping for knock on sales on to their existing brands in lower price brackets and there are none of these for long aged, closed distilleries. That stock is, tragically in my view, earmarked for the likes of Blue Label and other high end blending releases. I had a fascinating conversation with one of the Diageo blenders at the launch. He spoke about how in larger markets of the far east, South America, India and even some sectors of Europe and the US, blends are a drinker’s whole world, single malts don’t even factor in. To them, true passion for whisky is manifest in new expressions of Buchannan’s or Johnnie Walker. This is something that we are all perhaps aware of, and financially the implications of what that means for the majority of single malts in Diageo’s portfolio are pretty clear. The industry is the way it is and there isn’t a lot those of us who love single malts can do about it. There has been a big move in recent years to defend blends, to somehow deify them as better than malts, as works of art. Even if we don’t accept that we malt drinkers are told we should be grateful for blends as we wouldn’t have malts without them. Well, to be honest, I reject all those claims. Attending events such as this one only reaffirms my frustration and general dislike of blends. Many can be great drams no doubt, and for me Diageo produce the best examples hands down. But they will never, in my opinion, match the depth and complexity of good quality single malts. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the high end blend market is the graveyard of great malt whiskies. My frustration or dislike of blends is not born of snobbery or malice, it is merely the rumination of someone a little vexed at the direction this industry has taken over the years. Mercifully, there is no shortage of great malts still to be had, as these special releases annually prove, however, you can’t help but think what might have been or what has been sacrificed at the blending altar over the years. Anyway, lets be grateful for what does get bottled rather than what doesn’t, no point crying over blended malt.

Dalwhinnie 25yo OB Special Releases 2012. Rejuvented American oak hogsheads. 5358bottles. 52.1%. 70cl.

Colour: Light gold

Nose: At first a wonderful combination of beeswax, furniture polish, wet leafs, honeysuckle, digestive biscuits, buttered toast and hints of menthol. A wonderfully inviting nose that combines great freshness and real maturity. Touches of wood spice but not a shred of over powering oak to be seen otherwise. Hints of cocoa, coal dust and more wax. Not sure that it really needs water but lets try all the same… water doesn’t hurt it at all it seems. Now we have more coal, wax, minerals, wet moss, graphite, wild flowers and green tea. Becomes very delicate and beautifully restrained with water.

Palate: Very consistent with the nose, a wonderful honied sweetness that dries towards the swallow with tobacco, mint leaf, mint tea, demerara sugar, glazed hazelnuts, tiramisu, nutmeg and cinnamon. Superbly biting, fresh, alive and drinkable with touches of wood smoke, cured meats, molasses and treacle. Really delicious and almost perfect at cask strength but, as with the nose, lets add water… gets a little oilier in texture and more drying with a little more bite from the wood, dark chocolate, black tea, touches of medicine, pineapple drops and marzipan.

Finish: Long, complex, earthy, waxy, drying, slightly salty, fresh, herbal and gently sooty. Brilliant.

Comments: I loved this when I tried it at the castle first time round and it’s even better in the cold light of day on a fresh palate. I think this is the real sleeper hit and probably the best value one of the lot this year. I liked the other Dalwhinines in this series from previous years but this one just seems to hit that perfect balance of age, maturity, freshness, drinkability, wood impact and distillery character. Brilliant cask selection and a wonderful whisky.

Score: 91/100

Auchroisk 30yo 1982 OB Special Releases 2012. Refill US and European Oak. 2976 bottles. 54.7%. 70cl. 

Colour: Light Amber

Nose: Quite antique on the nose, lots of leaf mulch, resin, old cognac, dusty books, wood spice, cloves, touches of tar, sultanas and stewed apples. Hints of custard, aged rums, mead, wax and old dessert wines. Nice but not particularly distinctive or complex, its just good old malt whisky at first nosing. Goes on with some nice notes of mirabelle and quince with touches of fruit compote and dried herbs. With water: softer and more luscious with notes of fresh figs, prune juice, flat cola, horse stables and some very nice garden fruits.

Palate: The oak is very biting here, quite a big, staunch chalkiness with tannic chocolate notes, flints and a thick earthiness. Hard to get through that really. Touches of very rich game, meat broth, bay leaves and over aged pinot noir. It’s good but the aggression of the oak is a bit overpowering, Lets try with water: water simmers the oak down to very warming spiciness and brings our more chocolate, treacle, malt extract and black tea with notes of fruit syrup and caraway. Also touches of chartreuse and other sweet herb liqueurs.

Finish: Quite drying, gently tannic, woody, earthy, mulchy and full of dried mushrooms, hints of truffle and olive oil.

Comments: I like it but it’s nothing like as good as the Dalwhinnie. It still feels like just a decent old malt that wears its wood on its sleeve. Again, I refer to my comments at the top, I’d rather they bottled Glenlochy, Clynelish or Coleburn than Auchroisk, I really think it suffers from a little lack of personality.

Score: 85/100

Lets do the Lagavulin today as well. I’m in the mood for some peat after that…

Lagavulin 21yo 1991 OB Special Releases 2012. 1st fill European Oak Sherry. 2772 bottles. 52%. 70cl.

Colour: Amber

Nose: A super clean mix of crisp smoky bacon, sea salt, preserved lemons, engine oil, old phenols, peat oils and smoked wax (if such a thing exists). This bears instant resemblance to the old 21yo from 2007 but it is quite a bit lighter to my mind with a much more elegant, organic earthy/leafy quality. Wet soil, seaweed, pebbles, minerals, mutton, some kind of concentrated peat liqueur, creosote and tar. A wonderfully concentrated and elegant mix of sherry and peat in this one. With water: gets gristier, smokier and kind of younger with more of these leafy tobacco notes and touches of kippers, brine and more seaweed.

Palate: Quite restrained in strength the gristy, oiliness of the peat comes shining through though, notes of game, cannabis, smoked oats, dried seaweed, green olives, anchovies, chartreuse, tar and rancio. Lots of mulch, old pipe tobacco, tcp, iodine, menthol and then some quite heavy, earthy dirtiness, the good kind. With water: more salty, briny and green with more notes of green olives, mixed peppercorns, camphor and a resinous, lingering peat. Wonderful whisky.

Finish: Long, earthy, peaty, syrupy, leafy and coastal with lingering, thick, dark fruity embers from the sherry glowing in the background.

Commetns: Another great lagavulin. I don’t think it approached the majesty of the old 21yo but it is a real class act and a masterclass in   the balancing act of matching heavy peat with sherry. I love it, highly quaffable with or without water.

Score: 91/100

It’s fortunate that I just so happen to have a sample of the original 21yo to hand. I already wrote notes for it quite some time ago but lets give another quick whirl for sake of comparison.

Lagavulin 21yo 1985 OB 2007 Special Releases. 6642 bottles. 56.5%. 70cl. 

Colour: Light copper

Nose: This is obviously the same distillery but it just has everything from the 2012 version only in far greater concentration, its meatier, earthier, saltier, richer, oilier and peatier in spades. These huge notes of herbs, game, cured meats, wax, peat oils, farmyards, manure, hay, dunnage warehouses, tar, all kinds of medicine, metal and even flickers of green and tropical fruits. I had forgotten what a masterpiece this one really is. ~Water just serves to magnify the herbs, the mint and meat with a more mossy, earthy quality to the peat and the phenolic aspects.

Palate: This one is just on another planet all together. Beautiful, beautiful sherry and peat, its perfectly dirty, intense, syrupy, mouth coating, fat, oily, dense and powerful. One of those rare malts where the flavour completely dominates the high alcohol and you barely register that its over 56%. With water: there’s not much point going on. Censored.

Finish: Jam packed, endless and brilliant. A big parade of all thats gone before.

Comments: Some people will love the more delicate approach that the new 21yo has to this particular style but I think this first 21yo is really utterly uncompromising and so intensely flavoured. It just seems to be a bottomless peat bog of personality and character. I know there are those that dislike it but for me it’s up there with the best of the special releases. Only the early Brora 30s can touch it as far as I’m concerned.

Score: 95/100 (that’s 1 point up from last time, and quite right too).

It seems there are four old Clynelish kicking around my tasting cupboard. What a shame. This distillery evidently needs no introduction or blether from me so we’ll just dive right in if you don’t mind.

Clynelish 14yo. OB. Flora & Fauna. Rotation mid-late 1990s. 43%. 70cl. 

This bottle is actually the reason this tasting came about. It all started when a certain pair of whisky quaffers by the names of Dennis and Tobias exclaimed this to be the ‘best Clynelish you can buy’ or something like that on facetube. I swiftly disagreed and the result was they sent me a sample. With this in mind I’d like to publicly denounce all old official Laphroaigs as dusty fruit free piss water, any pre-war malts as brittle and deeply flawed and early 70s Broras and Longrows as dull and unimaginatively peated blend fodder. Just send the samples to the usual address guys…

Colour: Gold

Nose: Uber typical at first, lots of wax, hessian, shoe polish, chamomile, lilies, pollen and green fruit. It seems to combine a perfect mix of older style, early 70s era Clynelish with some of the modern day 14yo traits. Notes of old Riesling, shoe polish, beeswax, dusty mineral notes, white flowers, fresh chives, a little green tomato chutney and straw. This is really beautiful, I’m starting to feel less confident about blowing this one out of the water with the older ones. A really beautiful old style sweetness that combines elements of natural vanilla and honeycomb is balanced by some fantastically taught and drying coastal notes. Hints of sandalwood, seashore and lemon zest.

Palate: Hmmm, a little dusty on delivery, was this bottle open a long time I wonder? Improves with a few further sips and really starts to bloom with lots of fresh bread, raw sea salt, green tea, more chamomile, wood spice, touches of peat and tar with a really mouthwatering mineral sensation. Still perfectly dry with just twitches of sweetness about it now. Quite savoury and salty, like black olives on pastry. More grass, green fruit, pebbles, tinned peaches, all kinds of oils, eucalyptus sweets and cream soda.

Finish: Long, lively, warming and super fresh. The coastal aspects go into overdrive and you get this big zingy, salty, mouthwatering mineral sensation. The honey flavours come back a bit as it fades. Lovely.

Comments: Well I had thought this one would be easily defeated by the others that are to follow but now I’m not so sure. Surprisingly close to the early 70s style in many ways. Probably from those great batches distilled in the early 80s. A big thankyou to Dennis and Tobias for this one.

Score: 90/100

Speaking of which…

Clynelish 28yo. Douglas Laing OMC. 1982-2011. 238 Bottles. Refill Hogshead. 50%. 70cl.

Colour: Straw Gold

Nose: It’s quite surprising how close this is initially to the F&F bottling. Only a slightly more intense resinous quality belies its greater age. It combines those beautiful qualities of tinned tropical fruits, hessain, huge waxiness, drying coastal notes and white stone fruits that make this such a world class distillate. Further notes of damp straw, coal, creosote, motor oil, vanilla cream, black pepper and celery soup. This one is big bold and intense, it doesn’t quite share the same complexity as the F&F but it compensates with a wonderfully direct intensity of character. Goes on with notes of mint, seaweed, dried herbs and more huge seashore aromas.

Palate: Softer than expected but still a barrel of wax and oil topped up with seawater. This one becomes massively salty after a few moments, a dens saltiness, like chewing whole sea salt crystals, with lemon juice, acid drops, grass, and tobacco leaf in the background. Quite astonishingly coastal and intense this one, smoked salmon, black pepper, metallic notes, chocolate limes, chopped parsley and buttered toast. Great stuff, although you might not want to drink this if you have weak kidneys, the salt might finish you off. Good if you have a sodium deficiency though…

Finish: Bready, salty, savoury, floral, super coastal and long.

Comments: Great stuff, super classical old style Clynelish, is has everything in spades, except for salt, it has that in shovels. You need to like dry, coastal, hyper fresh and salty whiskies to enjoy this one I think. I love it.

Score: 90/100

Clynelish 1972-2010 38yo. The Whisky Agency. 138 bottles. Refill sherry hogshead. 45.8%. 70cl. 

Colour: Amber

Nose: A big explosion of lush green and tropical fruits with all kinds, honey, coastal notes, oils, waxy qualities and background cereal touches. Just gorgeous and unmistakeably early 70s Clynelish. The nose is incredibly fresh for 38 years and that balance of intense fruit and regulating coastal notes is just stunning, there is some oak in the mix but it is perfectly subdued, just soft wafts of dark chocolate and stewed fruits betray the sherry. It also reveals menthol, pipe tobacco, touches of rancio, lemon green tea and muesli. Orange liqueur, dates, bitters, caraway seeds and cornflour.

Palate: On the palate the wood is clearly a little louder but it is not overly astringent, the waxiness is still huge and the distillery character is still very much in play. Lots of resin, salt, camphor, black tea, raisins, hints of cognac, sandalwood, toasted cereals, mint and green fruits. Some really beautiful citrus as well with hits of tinned fruits, fruit syrups and more salty seashore notes. This is perilously drinkable and despite that slight woody edge is really delicious, in fact the wood works quite nicely in holding everything together and keeping the whole profile lively and focused. Another stunning old Clynelish in other words.

Finish: It’s not the longest ever but it remains all on fruit resins, wax, touches of wood, chocolate, mead, coal and mint.

Comments: I suspect most of these early 70s casks will not last too much longer before the wood starts to take over. This one was just on the cusp but it was still reliably stunning.

Score: 92/100

Clynelish 1972-2009. 36yo. G&M for LMDW. Cask 14301. 197 bottles. 59.4%. 70cl. 

Colour: Gold

Nose: This one is bigger, more austere, more mineral and more gravely at first nosing. Some clean oak, loads of tight and sharp coastal notes, wax, paraffin, resin, tons of honeycomb and pollen. We’re not really that far away again from the F&F 14yo, it’s just much bigger, more intense and more compact due to much greater age and strength. The focus of the flavour is quite impressive though. Becomes more floral with a bit of time showing notes of white flowers and dandelions. With water: now it’s just a hotbed of warm honey, green fruits and simmering spices. Green peppercorns in brine, charcoal, oysters, lemon drops and a whole coast line.

Palate: Tha alcohol is quite imposing at first sip, the austerity is still resolutely there with a big crisp saltiness, salt and vinegar crisps in fact. All the usual suspects are here, wax, lemon oil, flowers, flints, seashore, minerals and tiny flecks of peat as well. But you can feel it needs waster… with water: Wow! It opened up perfectly, a thirsty whisky if ever there was one. Bags of bay leaves, green tea, lemon skins, apple peelings, seashore, sandalwood, oysters, wild flowers, all kinds of fresh fruits, wet earth and pebbles. Just lashings of everything, a stunner.

Finish: Fantastically long and packed full of the same spellbinding complexities as the palate. Clear, direct, balanced and intense. Beautiful!

Comments: I’m sure there can’t be many more casks like this one still to be bottled. They’ll start getting harder and harder to come by soon, I suggest you taste one of these old Clynelishes before it’s too late if you haven’t already. Its a unique distillate that anyone serious about whisky should try at least once in their life. Sends all these modern malts back to school as far as I’m concerned.

Score: 93/100

ps: A vatting of all four is utterly magical!