Clynelish 1995 (Signatory for TWE #8676)

Here’s a relatively new Clynelish 1995 matured in a sherry cask and bottled by Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange.

Clynelish 21 yo 1995 (54,7%, Signatory Vintage for The Whisky Exchange 2017, refill sherry butt #8676, 544 btl.)

Nose: gentle sherry, resulting in a nice mix of brown sugar, honey cake, tobacco and some old leathery notes. Subtle fruit jams (plums) and plenty of baked apples with cinnamon. Mint leaves. Some dusty, earthen floors.

Mouth: dry and spicy at first, on red apples, tea and tobacco. Some chilli chocolate. Then a growing bitterness (Seville oranges) and leafy notes. Leather again. Surprisingly salty as well.

Finish: long, with green oak, dry chocolate and a herbal bitterness.

Good, although I tend to think of these sherried expressions as less typically Clynelish. The nose is great but the typical waxiness is lost in autumnal sherry notes and there’s quite a salty, oaky kick on the palate. Fairly priced but already sold out from TWE.

Score: 87/100