Clynelish 18 Years Old 1997 Cask #6495 (Wilson & Morgan)

A Clynelish of an 18 year old chosen by the bottler Wilson & Morgan, distilled in 1997, from cask 6495, bottled at 51.4%, one of 231 bottles. Clynelish stands on the North Sea coast at Brora, the modern neighbour of the lost Brora distillery. Clynelish is unpeated, its character built on texture, citrus and coast rather than smoke.

It was drawn off three wash and three spirit stills, for a maritime spirit with a beeswax richness. A bourbon barrel held it, vanilla and a little coconut under the wax. Through oxidative maturity esters concentrate, lemon turning to candied orange over a thick, oily wax. Years in oak round the spirit, the citrus deepening to orange and tropical fruit. The clean, oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey over the wax. Most of its make goes to blending, with a fourteen year old the flagship single malt.

Bottled at a cask strength 51.4%, it is rich. Beeswax, honey and a coastal freshness, with a soft vanilla from the oak. Orange, beeswax and a maritime salt fill the middle. A long, oily finish ends on lemon and beeswax. This is Clynelish, the wax of the Sutherland coast.