Clynelish 18 Year Old 1995 The Auld Alliance

The Auld Alliance is a prestigious whisky bar in Singapore run by a French guy – Emmanuel Dron – and his lovely wife. I have the pleasure of knowing the owners, but have not yet been to Singapore myself. Emmanuel selects casks himself for his bar from time to time and this is one of those: a Clynelish from 1995. This was already six years ago now, but I recently decided to share my bottle with friends at a tasting. And they really loved it. No surprise. Emmanuel knows a thing or two about whisky.

Although the first whiff gave me a bit of a scare. It is quite funky! While beeswax and citrus are present, you also need to struggle though some exotic spices. I get some oregano, paprika, cardamom, cumin and cinnamon. I kid you not. This smells like a Baharat spice mix!

On the palate, however, it comes very close to textbook Clynelish, but still with a dirty edge that makes me frown and salivate at the same time. There is also a huge mineral side to it, as if I have some pebbles in my mouth. Bizarre, but good.

This continues in the finish: mineral, sweet, sour and spicy.

A peculiar Clynelish that you’ll need to approach with an open mind.

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