19/02/2024 Clynelish

Clynelish 12yo 2011/2023 (58.3%, Adelphi Selection, 1st Fill American Standard Barrel, C#800305, 208b): nose: leftover from last month's tasting. Nose: just like the first time, it proves to be a stereotypical Clynelish, with wax, propolis, honey-glazed yellow fruits (physalis?), and buttercups, as well as a dusting of faint soot, and a dollop of engine grease. It is waxier and sweeter as time passes, with candied pineapple cubes and tutti frutti joining a can of beeswax for wooden floors. In the background, the engine grease teams up with turpentine to an outstanding effect. The second nose is sweeter yet, full of yellow flowers (daffodils, tulips, buttercups), and waxier -- seal wax, this time, clearly red. Later on, a whiff of dark-purple plasticine enters the nostrils too, perhaps splashed with a drop of ink. Mouth: ooft! Turpentine alright! It seems to have a dissolvent quality to it that just disintegrates any grease. The texture is chewy, yet turns chalky as soon as one starts chewing. It reminds one of Dextro Energy tablets, rocket, and strawberry-flavoured dextrose tablets (chalky, then). Although powerful, it is not overly so, and is absolutely tolerable neat. The second sip is strongly acidic, and bitter to a lesser extent. Crushed citrus-flavoured energy tablets, we shall call it. A certain sweetness relieves the tongue, after a wee while: milk chocolate, citrus soda, or a combination of the two. Underneath that is stewed physalis with a spoonful of crushed Aspirin mistakenly added instead of sugar. Finish: big, without surprise, it has crumbly strawberry sweets, mint crumbles, and candied pineapple, if those could come sugar free. A long finish, slightly numbing and drying, that comes with desiccated orange zest and citrus pith, dried to a point it could be mistaken for papier mâché. That spells a mild bitterness indeed, and, if it is still fruity to a degree, the wax is now but a memory. The second gulp adds chewy-and-oily blonde tobacco to the mix, stirs dried-pineapple shavings, and adds a lick of a lukewarm moka pot stained with nut spread. In any case, it works a treat. Very, very decent dram. It came across quite differently from the other time too. 8/10