Clynelish 29 Years Old 1965 Cask #667 (Signatory)

The Pitlochry bottler Signatory Vintage selected this Clynelish, a 29 year old, distilled in 1965, from cask 667, bottled at 52.1%, one of 530 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 made in copper stills for a coastal, waxy make, for a maritime spirit with a beeswax richness. Maturation in an Oloroso cask laid dried fruit over the oily, coastal malt. Through the evaporative decades the oils concentrate, lactones and esters folding into mango, beeswax and a coastal salt. The clean, oily spirit shows the cask clearly, vanilla and honey over the wax. The unpeated make leans on texture and citrus, the cask adding depth. Clynelish is unpeated, its character built on texture, citrus and coast rather than smoke. Clynelish wax and a maritime salt run through the maturing spirit.

At a hearty 52.1% it carries real weight. An oily wax with citrus and brine, with dried fruit, fig and walnut from the cask. The texture is thick and oily, the wax coating the palate. The finish is deep, waxy and maritime. This is the cult waxy malt of Brora.