Clynelish 23 Years Old 1995 Cask #8680 (Signatory)

This Clynelish was bottled by the Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage, a 23 year old, distilled in 1995, from cask 8680, bottled at 53.6%, one of 570 bottles. Clynelish is a waxy, citrussy Highland single malt from the village of Brora. Water comes from the Clynemilton Burn, the spirit drawn off three wash and three spirit stills.

The spirit was worked through the tall stills for a citrussy, oily spirit, for the famous waxy texture at its heart. Maturation in an Oloroso cask laid dried fruit over the oily, coastal malt. At this evaporative stage ellagitannins lend a drying structure while oxidation builds waxy tropical fruit. A coastal maturation lends a faint brine to the oily, waxy malt. The wax sits at the heart of the spirit, the cask building fruit and honey around it. Long ageing turns the fresh lemon towards candied orange, beeswax and tropical fruit.

At a hearty 53.6% it carries real weight. A thick wax over orchard fruit and citrus, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. A lemon, a brine and a thick wax lift it. The finish is deep, waxy and maritime. This is Clynelish, the wax of the Sutherland coast.