Clynelish 16 year old 1996 AD Rattray for K&L Wine Merchants

I've had this sample for five years. Luckily the sample bottle was still full after all these years. Probably have the polycone seal to thank for that.

This sample was given to me by Tetris, a fellow who indulged in K&L's exclusive bottlings before I did. And, frankly, I don't even remember Driscoll pimping this one. But it exists/existed, as you'll see from the bottle pic near the bottom of the post.

Like Monday's Clynelish, this one was aged in a sherry butt, though I believe it was a refill, as per my sample label. I tasted the two Clynelish side-by-side for their reviews.

Distillery: Clynelish
Ownership: Diageo
Independent Bottler: A. Dewar Rattray
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants
Age: 16 years (8 October 1996 - 17 December 2012)
Maturation: refill sherry butt
Cask#: 8781
Outturn: 555 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 58.2%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
(thank you, Tetris!)

NEAT
The nose is very buttery, and that's all I can smell at first. But after it airs out, notes of brown sugar, brine, peppery sulphur, concrete, apples and grain float up. The palate is better than the nose leads on. It has a balance of brown sugar, citrus and savory. There are also black raisins, cayenne pepper and moldy oak. It gets limier with time. Limes, salt and cayenne in the finish. Very little sweetness to it, sort of like a super dry white wine. But hotter.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or > 1½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Almost no change to the nose. Maybe some maple, lime and raisins show up. But the palate becomes much easier. Oloroso and earth. Raisins and tart citrus. Chili oil, butter and moldy oak. The finish nearly matches the palate, with a good length and maybe some more sweetness.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Though I'm not a fan of the strange buttery note, I do like what lies beneath it. The palate is less problematic than the nose, working decently with or without water. Its ABV is almost identical to that of Monday's Clynelish, but it reads less hot. It also comes across slightly more generic compared to the 13yo. I will say this, I'm three Clynelish in, so far, and I'd still pick the 14yo OB over them all.

Availability - Sold out

Pricing - $99.99
Rating - 83

Clynelish 13 year old 1995 Signatory, cask 12792

The Caol Ila-dominant period of this Caol Ila-Clynelish month is over. It's time for two Clynelish in a row. (Note: Clynelish is plural for Clynelish. Is this a thing? Can I make it a thing?)

Both of these Clynelish are from sherry casks. Though, Clynelish #1 Fan often takes issue with sherry cask Clynelish, I don't feel the same. Then again Serge has tried about 20x as many Clynelish as I. So who are you going to side with? Me? Great!

First up, a 13yo single sherry butt from Signatory that was bottled before I started blogging about whisky, which was a looooooooooooong time ago.

Distillery: Clynelish
Ownership: Diageo
Independent Bottler: Signatory
Age: 13 years (21 December 1995 - 15 September 2009)
Maturation: sherry butt
Cask#: 12792
Alcohol by Volume: 58.2%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
(from a sample swap with My Annoying Opinions)

NEAT
The nose's top layer consists of dried cherries, soil, rock and kale juice. But its center is all dunnage and burlap. After 20+ minutes small notes of roses and mango appear. Beneath the palate's significant heat are notes of salt and dunnage. There's some sweetness (orange marmalade, maybe?) in the background, and an herbal bite in the middle. With time in glass, a creamy sweetness arises though the heat never subsides. The hot finish is a mix of salt, dunnage, herbal bitterness and citric sweetness.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or > 1½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose gets farmier and fruitier, like overripe cantaloupe rind and flesh. The dunnage and rose notes are subtler. Some wheatgrass in there, and lots of brine. The palate has the burlap and funky dunnage mustiness of the neat nose. Limes follow as does a mild sweetness, stones and a hint of extinguished matches. It MUCH less hot now. The sweetest moment arrives in the finish, reminiscent of citrus hard candies. Some salt and heat follow.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Though my notes might not say as much, I liked this whisky. The key is getting through the heat. As usual, the nose is the strong point, working with or without dilution. Water cools off the palate and finish improving them. It's lean and mean, feeling old school and spirit-forward. It's certainly not a crowd pleaser. Be sure to see MAO's review (from nearly 6 years ago!) and his comments section for alternate takes.

Availability - Sold out

Pricing - ???
Rating - 86 (with water)

Caol Ila 10 year old Connoisseurs Choice, Gordon & MacPhail

Yes, one of my own bottles! No mooching today!

The above photo was taken a couple weeks before we left California, and that's about the time I salvaged a 2-ounce review sample for the future. And now I'm in the future.

I took no notes while drinking directly from this bottle, but the liquid did vanish quickly. Jordan of Chemistry of the Cocktail reviewed a sample from this bottle back in 2016. I have no idea if other samples are out there somewhere.

Aside from the time I had the privilege of drinking a Caperdonich 1968, I've found the Connoisseurs Choice series to be underwhelming. At least this time there's sherry and peat (probably) involved...

Distillery: Caol Ila
Ownership: Diageo
Region: Islay

Independent Bottler: Gordon & MacPhail
Range: Connoisseurs Choice
Age: 10 years old (???? - ????)

Maturation: refill sherry hogsheads

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(review sample taken from the bottom third of my bottle)

NEAT
It's the color of straw, so perhaps not that much sherry? Lemons and brown sugar up front in the nose, peat and pepper in the background. Dried stone fruits and mint candy in the midground. After 20 minutes, it's just mint candy and dried fruits, with almost no peat. Bigger peat on the palate, though. Overall, it's sweet and simple, a little floral. More ashy than smoky. It gets ashier, saltier and bitterer with time, then hints of dried berries and vanilla show up. The moderate-length finish has peat, sugar and salt. It gets tangier and bitterer with time.

DILUTED TO ~40%abv, or < 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
A straightforward delivery of ash, sugar syrup, mint, brown sugar and lemon zest in the nose. The palate has gotten sweeter and more acidic. The bitterness remains, though the peat is barely there. A note of moldy oak rolls in. The finish is sweet, acidic and mildly peaty.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
On the Whelmed Scale of 1 through 10, this sits at 5, which is better than average (in my experience) for Connoisseurs Choice. It's a perfectly acceptable sipper, one that can be consumed casually and mostly forgotten. The peat is often shy, though not as hidden as the sherry. Though I didn't try the two side by side, I'd say the official Caol Ila 12yo has a full step up on this whisky. So the Caol Ila 10 year old Connoisseurs Choice wasn't worth its $75 price tag. And thus goes my final CC bottle.

One final word, or paragraph, about Connoisseurs Choice. If you peruse the European retail market, you may have noticed Gordon & MacPhail have done a complete packaging and branding overhaul. No more Cask Strength Series. Most G&Ms appear to be Connoisseurs Choice, whether 46%abv or 66%abv, small batch or single barrel. The bottles look sturdier, the labels curvier. As mentioned, the old Connoisseurs Choice always sounded and seemed better than it was. The fact that it had been around for a few decades also brought it some cachet. Goodbye ugly but comfy map labels; hello front-and-center tasting notes. Perhaps the product will be better. Or maybe it's just new visuals for the same whisky.

Availability - American market, a few bottles may still be around

Pricing - $65-$75
Rating - 84

Undisclosed Distillery (Caol Ila) 7 year old 2008 Single Cask Nation

While low scores help bring my average ratings back down to Earth, and the usage of online snark can be tasty, panning a whisky gives me little pleasure. (Also, I'm investing liver cells here.) But Monday's Clynelish was crap when neat. The next Clynelish (next week) will be 13 years old, from a different sort of cask and at a lower ABV. So I'm cautiously optimistic.

But enough about Clynelish, because we're back to Caol Ila! Probably.

Today's whisky was labelled "Undisclosed Distillery" by J&J of Single Cask Nation, and is listed as of the "Islay Region". This situation often = Lagavulin. But I was told by someone in the know that this is in fact Caol Ila. And the site says, "We believe this whisky was produced at Islay's powerhouse distillery located near Port Askaig." So there.

Last week's 5 year old CI perfectly illustrated my qualms about all the market's immature single casks, while the 6 year old CI proved the opposite. I'm hoping this will trend towards the 6yo.

Distillery: Undisclosed (Caol Ila)
Ownership: Who knows? (Diageo)
Independent Bottler: Single Cask Nation
Age: 7 years (August 2008 - August 2015)
Maturation: refill bourbon hogshead
Cask: 613-2
Outturn: 235
Alcohol by Volume: 57.8%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
(Thanks to Brett for the sample! Again!)

NEAT
Pine sap, confectioner's sugar, wheatgrass, cocoa and kirsch on the nose. The peat smoke starts off delicate, but builds with time, hoisting up a marzipan note along the way. The palate is less hot than I'd expected. There's plenty of sea salt, smoked peanuts and woody peat smoke. Also tart limes and marzipan. A little bit of ganja. A little bit more honeyed sweetness. It finishes warm and peaty. Lots of limes and nuts. It gets sweeter with time.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or 1½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose becomes farmy barny. Also plenty of orange zest, simple syrup, ocean air and cream of wheat. The palate balances citrus, sugar, vanilla and peat. It also has some smaller floral, peppery and savory notes. It finishes sweet and floral with a puff of wood smoke.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I'm going to guess this was a second-fill hoggie because there's some actual maturation here and a touch of good American oak (when diluted). It's still a youngster, but it's not palate-stripping. The salt, citrus and nuts worked well, though the sweetness got a bit aggressive. But no huge plusses, no huge minuses. Sturdy at seven years. Though at that price...

Availability - Sold out

Pricing - $125
Rating - 83

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)

Killing Whisky History, Episode 19: J&B Jet 12 year old from the 1990s

I like this whisky. In fact, while you're reading this, I am drinking this:


Come along and meet J&B Rare's short-lived tall dark and handsome sibling whose contents might be a little older than the bottle says.

Caol Ila 6 year old 2009 Hepburn's Choice for K&L

Yes, I'm following up a 5 year old hogshead-aged Hepburn's Choice Caol Ila bottled for K&L Wine Merchants with a 6 year old hogshead-aged Hepburn's Choice Caol Ila bottled for K&L Wine Merchants. How much trouble am I asking for here? Who needs taste buds anyway?

A couple of differences between Monday's whisky and this one, other than one whole additional year of maturation. This Caol Ila is somewhat more recent, released in 2016, rather than 2014. Wow! And, oh yeah, today's CI lived in a sherry hogshead for its 6+ years.

And with that, I'm going to start drinking.

Distillery: Caol Ila
Ownership: Diageo
Region: Islay
Independent Bottler: Hunter Laing
Label: Hepburn's Choice
Exclusive to: K&L Wine Merchants
Age: 6 years (2009-2016)
Maturation: sherry hogshead
Bottles: 291
Alcohol by Volume: 58.9%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? No
(Thanks to Monsieur Florin for the sample!)

NEAT
Its color is nearly identical to the straw hue of the 5 year old. Those nose isn't the veggie patch that 5yo presented, but something a little more complex. There are the familiar youthful notes of green peat, pear and a whiff of mezcal, but there's also salted butter, lemon zest, fresh bread, charcoal ash and some fresh apricot. The palate is......good. Less pepper and heat than expected. Milder peat than in the nose. Solid combos of limes + apricots, and toffee + brown sugar are ever-present. More sherry and sweetness with time. Brown sugar, peat, pinches of pepper and salt in the finish. Just a sparkle of heat.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or 1¾ tsp of water per 30mL whisky
A straightforward nose. Peat, sand, smoked salmon and orange zest. Very rich peat in the palate. Roasted almonds and fresh apples. A little bit of sherry and brown sugar. It finishes with peat, salt, apples and lemons.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I'm going to take Monday's rant and tuck it away today. This is a comfy whisky, providing a quality close to what Kilchoman can do at this age. The sherry is present, and may help to cover up a problem or two, but it never bullies the rest of the whisky away. In fact, the more I drink this, the more I like it. It even swims well. While this whisky would likely be better at twice its age, it would also risk too much cask action. So I have no problem with it right here. Hopefully I won't have to whip out that rant again next week.

Availability - Sold out

Pricing - $49.99
Rating - 85