Clynelish 1997 14 YO Archives Inaugural Release

Clynelish 1997 14 YO Archives Inaugural Release, 53,9 %

Whiskybase.com is a very good whisky site, and they also have their own shop, and bottle their own whiskies under the brand Archives. I have now tasted the Clynelish 1997 14 YO Archives Inaugural Release. It is long since sold out from Whiskybase, but luckily the nice people at Whiskytaste Sweden have bottles for sale in Sweden.

This is a single cask release (cask #4634), a bourbon hogshead. It was distilled in July 1997, and a total of 160 bottles were filled in July 2011.

A bottle can be yours for SEK 1201 (item number 85527).

My notes here are based on my impressions during a full blind tasting - I did not know what whiskies were served. I was a bit happy to find out after the tasting that I had correctly identified this as a Clynelish straight away.

Nose (23/25): Strawberries, fresh and clean. A summer's day - in the middle of the day. It's sunny, and we are relaxing under an old oak three, down by the stream. Very appealing. After a few minutes I find that the strawberries are accompanied by a small bowl of the finest milk chocolate, and vanilla biscuits. More sugary and fruity notes after a while. The strawberries morph into a whole family of berries; gooseberry, redcurrant and blackcurrant. There's a handful of apples on the side just to complement the whole arrangement.

Taste (22/25): Soft as velvet, slightly oily and waxy. Very fresh and summer like on the taste as well. It goes down very easy!

Finish (22/25): Medium warmth, lingering. The nice oiliness is here along with mild fruity notes.

Balance (23/25): A feel good whisky! Brings me back to a very happy, summer place. I really do love the Clynelish waxiness.

Score (90/100)

Image from whiskybase.com.

Sláinte! - Thomas