Clynelish 16 Year Old 1996 The Whiskyman

There was a time that Dominiek Bouckaert was intensely into whisky. For years he released wonderful whisky under his label of The Whiskyman. In 2012 he was able to put his hands on this cask of Clynelish from 1996 after 16 years of maturation. It was bottled for the Lindores Whisky Festival in Beglium.

My first impression while nosing this gem was that it’s apple juice on steroids. Green, red and yellow apples. Then some fresh peach, a lot of honey, almond paste and red berries. This is a veritbal fruit juice. Wonderfully waxy as we are used to from Clynelish.

On the palate, the apples appear first, but are quickly joined by mandarin and pink grapefruit. Sweet and sour to the third degree. The alcohol is nicely integrated and the spices give enough support (pepper, licquorice and ginger) without dominating. It’s a powerhouse.

In the finish the citrus paves the way from some candied ginger and oak spices.

What a lovely Clynelish. I regret my bottle is empty by now!

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