Clynelish 24 Years Old 1996 Cask #WN001 (WhiskyNerds)

The bottler WhiskyNerds bottled this Clynelish, a 24 year old, distilled in 1996, from cask WN001, bottled at 54.9%, one of 282 bottles. Clynelish, on the Sutherland coast, makes one of the most distinctive textures in Scotch, its famous wax. The distillery was built in 1967 next to the original Clynelish of 1819, which was renamed Brora and later closed.

It was drawn off three wash and three spirit stills, giving the oily, candle wax character Clynelish is prized for. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding a light honeyed vanilla. 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. Vanillin and oak lactones from the wood lend vanilla and coconut over the wax. Refill oak lets the famous Clynelish wax lead, lemon and honey beneath.

Bottled at a cask strength 54.9%, it is rich. Candle wax, lemon and a coastal salt, with a soft vanilla from the oak. It is waxy and citrussy, the oily spirit shining through. The close is long, wax over a citrus lift. This is an oily, maritime Highland single malt.