Clynelish Select Reserve Special Release 2014 54.9% NAS

Professional reviews

Serge Valentin (88)

An interesting bottle, this one! In theory, I’d have preferred to see a vintage and/or an age, while this baby’s NAS, which may imply that there’s some young Clynelish inside. In reality, the youngest vintage inside is 1999, so 15 years old already, but there are much older casks as well. No I couldn’t tell you about those older vintages, or about the proportions. Besides, I think it’s the first time I see such emphasizing on the work of the blender on a single malt by Diageo, as Dr. Jim Beveridge’s role is heavily advertised on the rather lovely retro packaging. It’s true that having followed Clynelish’s vintages and their styles throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, I imagine that working on such a composition may have been an orgasmic experience!

Colour: gold.

Nose: a different kind of complexity. Olivier feels the sugary side of the grains, notes of Gueuze, a touch of yeast, stone fruits, mirabelles, peaches… A touch of sawdust too, bark, young dry white Bordeaux… A little less emotion than in the others. Improves over time, with more aromatic herbs, lemon grass, lime… Dave finds it slow to open but worth the wait. A little ozonic, he says. He also finds fried plantains, ginger and ginseng. With water: more perfumed, with some pear tart. Also more classic Clynelish wax, wet limestone, a little menthol. Becomes purer.

Mouth: creamy, fruity, powerful. Very thick, needs concentration. White fruits and not much wax at this point, which is a little surprising. With water: sir, it’s a revolution! Opens up, everything comes out, first wax then more white fruits, grapefruits, that salinity… Dave thinks it really needs water.

Finish: long, on more or less the same notes. Some ash.