This Clynelish is fully of the sea.
Wemyss names their single cask expressions with SMWS style descriptive names, and this Clynelish is aptly called “Bench with a Sea View”. This, of course, isn’t all that surprising, given just how close it actually is to the sea, as you can tell in this picture:
Photo Credit: cognisnews.wordpress.com
In truth, tasting this expression brought me back the excellent Old Pulteney 17 (reviewed here), and was much more in line with it than with a Clynelish, not to mention yesterday’s Clynelish sherry bomb. As with all the Wemyss single casks (all those I’ve had, by the way, were excellent), I’ll repeat my pet peeve of not having them at cask strength, despite being priced as if they were.
Wemyss Malts Clynelish 1997, 17 Year Old single cask, Yield of 371 Bottles (46% ABV, NCF, NC)
Appearance: Gold with quick and thick legs.
Nose: Heather honey and caramel candy with a deep floral sweetness. Lemon drops and bread dough, sweet cake topping and salty breeze notes round out this nose, with time in the glass bringing out more saltiness.
Palate: Mild sweetness and spice with salt and some citrus bitterness, in a full body.
Linger: Spicy in the back of the throat and salty in the mouth. This long finish takes me right back to the Old Pulteney 17.
Conclusion
This expression has a stunning nose, and the dram becomes progressively saltier as you go along. None of the typical waxiness in it though, so you’d have a hard time telling it’s a Clynelish, and as I said, this could have been an Old Pulteney 17, which is a huge compliment!