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Clynelish 14 Year Old

Itchin' for a Lich's Ish"?

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RReview by @Rigmorole

25th Mar 2013

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Clynelish 14 Year Old
  • Nose
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  • Taste
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  • Finish
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  • Balance
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  • Overall
    82

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“There are horrors beyond life's edge that we do not suspect, and once in a while man's evil prying calls them just within our range.”

--HP Lovecraft, The Thing on the Doorstep (one of the few modern works of fiction that feature a "Lich," which is a type of supernatural skeletal undead. The "ring wraiths" in the Lord of the Rings trilogy are like Liches with some minor differences.

Clynelish is fine-ish. Not great. One thing I notice about it every time I order a dram in the pub is the way it eats around the edges of one's gumline like the alcohol in mouthwash or the grain alcohol in Everclear (haven't tasted Everclear since high school, but I still remember the brute power of the stuff). This "gum eating" sensation happens with a few other brands of scotch, such as the cheaper Achentoshans.

Nose: A bit of smoke mixed with citrus-ish flavors.

Palate: Tangerine astringency. Some oak with vanilla. The flavor is certainly better than the mouth feel, which is a bit on the acidic side.

Finish: Bitter oak, more vanilla, and a touch of citrus again that seems slightly lemony. The finish is perhaps the weakest link in the Clynelish chain, aside from the astringent mouth feel around the teeth and gums. Still, it's not bad either. I would describe the finish as "ish," or "eh" or "so-so."

I don't dislike this whisky but it does taste more like a magical potion than most scotch to me. It lacks the organic coherency that makes some scotches seem less like "spirits" and more like a delicious drink for the living rather than a potion from the Great Beyond, borne in the bony hands of Liches which thrive on "ishes" of nursed regrets that suck at edges of one's soul like some eldritch grimalkin.

One thing's sartyn: Clynish is quite often a very good bargain for the money. I've never regretted ordering a glass in a pub, but then again I've never bought a bottle for my home neither.

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4 comments

@YakLord
YakLord commented

Love the H.P. Lovecraft / LoTR / AD&D references. The imagery in that second last paragraph is distyrbing... Have you ever tried the Distiller's Edition? We had both at our recent St. Clynelish's Day Celebration, and most people preferred the 14 to the DE. While they are both good whiskies, the DE feels a bit thinner, like not enough butter spread over too much toast...

11 years ago 0

@Onibubba
Onibubba commented

Great review. I like this whisky a little more than you, but I really enjoyed reading that. I simply have to add the following lyrics from Coil's song Batwings (A Limnal Hymn):

"A glass of spirits made of ethereal salt, hermetically sealed up Kept continually in quicksilver, of so volatile a nature That it will scarcely endure the light And therefore only shown in winter Or by the light of a carbuncle, or a firefly."

11 years ago 0

@NAV26
NAV26 commented

Strange that you used a quote from The Thing on the Doorstop as a compelation of this with some of H.P.s other writings is some of the only literature I have here in Monrovia. I really enjoy The Case of Charles Dexter Ward which also has a Lich/phylactery element to it.

I have an unopened bottle of the Clynelish 14 back in the states and was thinking about picking up another bottle in the Togo Duty free en route to Cameroun next month. I think I will pass and go with some other options for the limited slots in my luggage and in my collection.

11 years ago 0

R
Rigmorole commented

Glad you guys liked the Lovecraft reference! Back a few years ago, I had an article on Lovecraft that I wrote published in Lovecraft Studies Journal.

If you like Lovecraft's fiction, I recommend taking a look at Supernatural Horror in Literature. It's a magnificent essay.

Here's a link to it: gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/superhor.htm

Like I said, I don't dislike Clynelish 14 and I would order it again in a bar if nothing else looked interesting. It's just not a favorite of mine or anything. It's certainly better than the usual stuff you often find at your local neighborhood bar being passed off as whisky.

11 years ago 0