Clynelish 7 year old 2008 Signatory for Binny's, cask 800001

I might as well tell you now, Caol Ila-Clynelish Month will start mostly with the Islay distillery. Four out of the first five reviews, in fact. More Clynelish will follow as the whiskies get older. Today's post is the single Clynelish review out of the first five. It's a very young single cask that was selected by Binny's from the Signatory warehouses. We bought a bottle for an OC Scotch Club event three years ago. I remember it being raw, which is unsurprising considering its low age and high ABV. But I don't remember anything else about it.

Distillery: Clynelish
Ownership: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Exclusive to: Binny's
Age: 7 years (1 March 2008 - 17 March 2015)
Maturation: bourbon barrel
Cask#: 800001
Alcohol by Volume: 63.8%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
(from a OCSC whisky event)

NEAT
It's like a melon-scented eau de vie on the nose, at first. Then lemon-scented Windex, sour apple Jolly Ranchers, flower kiss candy and orange oil. The palate is......ugh. Vodka, vanilla, sugar and bitterness. Like a cask strength Canadian Club, with bitter lemon soda. Lemon pepper, bitterness and citronella in the finish.

That was unpleasant. How about some water?

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or 2⅓ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Midori, citronella, pears and a hint of OFF roll-on bug repellant on the nose. The palate is "less awful" (my actual notes). It's sweeter, with more citrus. Hint of horseradish. Bitter lemon soda. Good mouthfeel. More bitter lemon in the finish, along with pink peppercorns and Smirnoff.

Then...

DILUTED TO ~40%abv, or 3½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose is a slushie of Sprite, lime popsicles and Midori. Citrus, sugar, vanilla and bitterness in the palate. Bitter lemon soda and vanilla in the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Binny's picks are usually reliable. This is a rare raring misfire. In fact I was ready to dump this whisky after sipping it neatly. The nose is kooky and quirky, but the palate was shockingly bottom-shelf-cheapie poor. Luckily dilution improved things, though not enough to recommend this to anyone. I'm sorta sorry we unleashed this whisky on the OCSC group.

For a different perspective, see the review by My Annoying Opinions. MAO didn't like this Clynelish either, but there are some positive comments about the whisky in his comment section.

Availability - Sold out

Pricing - ???
Rating - 71 (with water, 10+ points lower when neat)