Clynelish 21 Years Old 1996 Cask #600010 (Murray McDavid)

A Clynelish of a 21 year old chosen by the bottler Murray McDavid, distilled in 1996, from cask 600010, bottled at 50%. Clynelish is a coastal Highland distillery at Brora in Sutherland, famous for its waxy single malt. A coastal maturation lends a faint brine to the waxy, oily spirit.

It was distilled from unpeated malt in the distillery's tall stills, building the cult Clynelish waxiness. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, the oak quiet behind the wax. Into oxidative maturity, slow air ingress builds fruity ethyl esters (orange and pineapple) over the deepening wax. The unpeated make leans on texture and citrus, the cask adding depth. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the wax. The clean, oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey over the wax. The distillery was built in 1967 next to the original Clynelish of 1819, which was renamed Brora and later closed.

At a natural 50% it is full and oily. The famous wax over lemon and orange, with a soft vanilla from the oak. The texture is thick and oily, the wax coating the palate. A long, waxy finish carries an orange sweetness. This is Clynelish, the wax of the Sutherland coast.