A Highland Distillery 11 Year Old 2010 First Cask

Although it is not explicitly mentioned on the label, the drawing of the distillery (the old Brora) is enough to realize that we are talking about a Clynelish here. It concerns a distillate from 2010 that slept on a hogshead – what type? – and was still 55.4% strong when bottled.

The nose is a bit... strange. I get baby puke right after the fruit porridge and a lot of caramel. There is also a saltiness to it. Something of nuts and leather. Tobacco and candied orange. If I had to venture a guess, I would say they used an Amontillado or Fino sherry cask. The distillery character is hard to find.

Great body and good strength – that often goes hand-in-hand – where the fruit now becomes a little clearer and the somewhat off-notes that I had earlier are masked. Again a lot of nuts and now also toffee – feel free to make salted caramel – before some soft spices show themselves. But again... this Clynelish is quite incognito. But on the palate already much better than what the nose announced.

The finish is medium-long and goes very quickly from sweet and spicy to bitter and dry. Old leather on the deathbed.

Don't get me wrong, this is certainly not an unpleasant whisky. But from Clynelish I expect more waxiness and distillery character. The cask dominated here quite a bit. Thanks for the sample, Manny!