Clynelish 12 Years Old 2005 Cask #308764 (Connoisseurs Choice)

The Elgin house Gordon and MacPhail bottled this Clynelish, a 12 year old, distilled in 2005, from cask 308764, bottled at 55.1%, one of 518 bottles. Clynelish stands on the North Sea coast at Brora, the modern neighbour of the lost Brora distillery. Water comes from the Clynemilton Burn, the spirit drawn off three wash and three spirit stills.

It was drawn off three wash and three spirit stills, for an oily, lemony make with a savoury edge. Ex-Sherry wood added a dried fruit richness to the waxy spirit. Integration folds eugenol (clove) and vanillin (vanilla) into the malt, the waxy body oilier and softer. Clynelish wax and a maritime salt run through the maturing spirit. A coastal maturation lends a faint brine to the oily, waxy malt. Clynelish sits on the North Sea coast at Brora, in the far north east of the Highlands. The clean, oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey over the wax.

At 55.1%, undiluted, it is deep and waxy. An oily wax with citrus and brine, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The texture is thick and oily, the wax coating the palate. A long, waxy finish carries an orange sweetness. This is the cult waxy malt of Brora.