Clynelish 14 year old

No less an authority than Jim McEwan of Bruichladdich has stated his opinion that Clynelish is a fantastic malt that too many people overlook. Clynelish is part of Diageo's line of Classic Malts (so is Talisker and the surprisingly good Glenkinchie). The standard bottling at the moment is the 14 year old, which is 46% alcohol by volume. The color is deep gold, almost orange it seems to me. The nose is rich, with tangerine rind, some smoke as water is added, and light sherry notes. The texture is oily, thick and coating on the tongue. With water I get some pears too and a little bit of woodiness. A very good malt.

The distillery has an interesting history (check out the Malt Maniacs link on the right side of my blog or the link above), but perhaps the most intriguing is that for a period of time it went by the name Brora (from 1969-1983 according to Diageo). The two distilleries were side-by-side for a period of time, actually, and my one experience of Brora (a 31 year old, I think) was of a much smokier, peatier malt than Clynelish. Untypical of a highland malt, I guess, but as I have learned, regions of Scotland do not doom a malt to taste a particular way or meet a specific profile. Peaty, smoky malts can come from anywhere.