Clynelish 24 Years Old 1995 Cask #8655 (The Whisky Cask Company)

A 24 year old Clynelish from the bottler The Whisky Cask Company, distilled in 1995, from cask 8655, bottled at 49.6%, one of 590 bottles. Clynelish stands on the North Sea coast at Brora, the modern neighbour of the lost Brora distillery. A coastal maturation lends a faint brine to the waxy, oily spirit.

It was worked through the tall stills for a citrussy, oily spirit, for the famous waxy texture at its heart. An Oloroso hogshead lent raisin and a savoury, nutty edge to the wax. In the oxidative, evaporative years concentration brings tropical esters of mango and pineapple over a deep, beeswax richness. The wax sits at the heart of the spirit, the cask building fruit and honey around it. Two old Brora warehouses still stand on the site, a link to its silent neighbour. The oily, waxy texture is the signature that blenders prize above all.

At a natural 49.6% it is full and oily. A thick wax over orchard fruit and citrus, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The mouthfeel is oily, the citrus carried on a waxy body. It finishes oily, waxy and bright. This is Clynelish, the wax of the Sutherland coast.