Clynelish 17 Years Old 1996 Cask #DL 10033 (Old Particular)

From the Glasgow bottler Douglas Laing, a 17 year old Clynelish, distilled in 1996, from cask DL 10033, bottled at 48.4%, one of 726 bottles. Clynelish is the waxy, maritime Highland single malt at the heart of Johnnie Walker Gold. Most of its make goes to blending, with a fourteen year old the flagship single malt.

The spirit was distilled from unpeated malt in the distillery's tall stills, for the famous waxy texture at its heart. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak quiet behind the wax. Through oxidative maturity esters concentrate, lemon turning to candied orange over a thick, oily wax. The unpeated make leans on texture and citrus, the cask adding depth. A coastal maturation lends a faint brine to the oily, waxy malt. Water comes from the Clynemilton Burn, the spirit drawn off three wash and three spirit stills. Its waxy character, a candle wax and beeswax texture, is prized above almost any other by blenders.

At a natural 48.4% it is full and oily. Candle wax, lemon and a coastal salt, with a soft vanilla from the oak. A lemon, a brine and a thick wax lift it. The finish is long, waxy and citrussy. This is Clynelish, the wax of the Sutherland coast.