Clynelish 1996 16 YO Blackadder

Clynelish 1996 16 YO Blackadder, 58,6 %

My experience with Clynelish has been very varying. I haven't tasted that many yet though.

Clynelish 1996 16 YO from the independent bottler Blackadder had been matured in a sherry butt, cask number 8782. It was distilled 8 October 1996 and bottled in august 2013 into 528 bottles. I tasted from bottle 485.

The whisky is from the Raw Cask series. Blackadder uses a special bottling process for the Raw Cask to make sure that every bottle contains its own share of the cask sediments as well as of natural oils and fats that might otherwise be left behind when filling a cask strength whisky straight from cask. Very nice, I think!

The whisky is available at Systembolaget in Sweden for SEK 1 261 (item number 84327).

Nose (21/25): A fruity smell at first. I detected mango, which is not something I usually get from a whisky. There were some maltiness to it. And it was waxy. I have come to learn that waxiness is something that is often used to describe Clynelish.

Taste (23/25): The taste was full and sweet. The sweetness was a mix of banana and salty caramel. Not very complex, but a lovely mix for my palate!

Finish (21/25): Quite warm, sweet and dry in the end. I was hoping for a bit more complexity, but it was still good.

Balance (21/25): The fruity sweetness is what I remember the most, together with the waxy feeling on the palate. This is one of the best Clynelish I have tasted so far.

Score (86/100)

- Tone