Review #238: Clynelish SMWS 26.117 14 Year Silky Smooth Sundowner

Highland -14 - NCF - NCA - $115 I am guessing - 57.9%

Clynelish is a Highland malt that is known for its waxy character.  They are owned by everybody's favorite conglomerate, Diageo.  Clynelish is a blending work horse for Johnny Walker and also a favorite malt for Compass Box.  This particular one was aged ex-bourbon  casks before spending the last year finishing in Sauternes casks.  

Color - Ripe Corn

Nose - White wine, fresh pears, sharp citrus, Sprite

Palate - Malt, new zealand sauvignon blanc, berry,  vanilla, sandelwood, 

Finish - Medium - Malt, grapefruit, chardonnay 

Overall - 6 - The nose on this is light and winey.  Not much else comes through on it.  Then it was ride of malt, white wine and wood.  It was a good decision for them to wine finish this one.  Without the wine finish, this would have been all malt.  I found this enjoyable and not a bad choice if you want to have a heavy influence of white wine.  The Sauternes doesn't bring a lot of sweetness, just lots of white wine flavor.  I probably wouldn't pick a bottle of this up but I am enjoying the dram.  

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Rating system is price influenced as it is based on my shopping decisions when buying a bottle.

10 Best in Show

9 Great Dram for Special Occasions

8 Worthy of consistent spot in my collection

7 Worth picking up a bottle if in the mood

6 I would buy a bottle if it went on sale
5.5 I really enjoyed but it will never be priced at where I would buy a bottle

5 I would drink it happily if offered

4 I would drink it if offered on the rocks

3 Maybe some soda will make this potable

2 I'll Pass

1 Toilet cleaner

Inclusive Ratings

Overall 6.1

Standard Deviation 0.92

Skew 0.66

Kurtosis -0.16