Review #71: Clynelish 14 yr 1998/2012, 49.5%, Maltbarn, ex-bourbon, 123 bottles

I had a cold.

Haven't reviewed anything for a long time -- I had a cold, and even after I recovered, nothing smelled quite right. (And there might have been some other things I fell behind on.)

So now I'm eager to get back to new (to me) whiskies. I'll start off with a Clynelish distilled in 1998. There have been a lot of amazing Clynelish from 1997. Let's hope '98 was as good.

nose: powerful orchard fruits -- apples and nectarines, along with something underripe or sour -- like quince or sour plums. a lot of white chocolate in the background, plus dried hay and light smoke. a nice floral note, too -- like alyssum or something.

palate: surprisingly rich -- white chocolate, with some beehive notes. the fruit's there too, somewhere, but I'm really amazed at the mouthfeel -- velvety and rich.

some oak comes in on the very long finish, but otherwise more of the same.

I wouldn't mind seeing the more typical Clynelish flavors -- or at least the ones that I associate with Clynelish -- but it has a sharp and distinctive nose and an amazing palate, esp. for its age. It might have been better with a few more years in the cask, but I guess they were down to 123 bottles already.

score: 87