Clynelish Reserve – Game of Thrones

House of Tyrell

Winter is upon the seven kingdoms and the house of Tyrell is falling at the knees of the Lannister’s..

The house of Tyrell is one of the most powerful houses of the seven kingdoms, they boast a great wealth, the greatest armies and if they call upon their naval allies they also command probably the largest naval fleet too..

The Tyrell family carry the name of lords  of the Mander and are liege lords of the Reach.

The home of the Tyrell family is High Garden, which is said to be beautiful and  tranquil, from here they have classed themselves as wardens to the south. The sigil carried is of a golden rose mounted on a green background.

The Tyrell family have not ruled over the kingdoms, instead they have found themselves as stewards to the House Gardener, and allies to the families in power.

Clynelish

The Clynelish Distillery is a strange one to talk about in some senses as officially founded in 1819 Clynelish distillery later became known as Brora and a more modern distillery which was built in 1967 adjacent to the old one is the distillery that we know today as Clynelish!!

The original version of Clynelish was mothballed in 1931 and remained closed until 1939, production was steady and in 1967 the sister distillery was built and within a year the old site was once again closed only to be re opened as Brora in 1969..

The capacity of Clynelish as we now know it is 4.8 million litres of alcohol per year and is another of the very much loved malts that comes under the Diageo umbrella..

This is another distillery that finds most of its liquid disappearing into blends like Johnnie Walker and the Gold Label Reserve..

With not many official bottlings on the market the main ones to track down would be the 14 year old and the Distillers Edition. That being said there are more and more independent bottlings being found these days and amongst these there are some real gems..

Clynelish Reserve

Distillery.. Clynelish

Region.. Highlands

Age.. NAS

Abv.. 51.2%

Cask.. Ex bourbon

This expression contains colouring..

Nose.. Instantly fruity with a subtle floral note.. Fresh apple peel, pineapple and ripe pear flow into fresh cherry blossom and a hint of dried grass, plenty of vanilla, butterscotch and a splash of sea spray that brings in a definite coastal aroma..

Palate.. A nice hit of spices welcomes in those fruity notes once again before a sweetness takes control. Plenty of vanilla, honey, pineapple and citrus notes with a very typical Clynelish waxiness domination.

Finish.. Fruity with an underlying bitterness.

Thoughts.. Another impressive release that is certainly helped by the higher Abv.. As the release I was most excited about for a few reasons, firstly Clynelish is a distillery I really want to get to know more and the high Abv really appeals to me..

My initial thoughts though was that this isn’t the most complex expression in the series and take away that higher Abv and this might have been considered as flat…

All that being said it has the high Abv so no need to worry.. It is a nice enough expression ( ok it’s a little better than nice) and although you wouldn’t describe it as one dimensional it certainly does feel like the initial excitement over this bottle was over exaggerated.. ( It does not supersede the Talisker or Lagavulin )  The fact this is the only one close to being cask strength either means it was indeed in need of the extra Abv or they just decided it was time to be generous with the Abv.. But anyone who actually enjoys Clynelish  will happily drink this for what it is without being overly cryptical..

Is it a world beater – No..

Is it better than the 14 – No, not in my opinion.. But as a one off buy it is certainly worth the extra few pounds in order to get that extra Abv but for a drinking whisky I think I’d stick to the 14…

https://ocdwhisky.com/2019/03/24/talisker-and-the-house-greyjoy/