Clynelish 1972/2010 37 Year old, Gordon & MacPhail «Book of Kells»

This Clynelish bottling was distilled in 1972, matured in a refill sherry hogshead and bottled by Gordon & MacPhail in their «Book of Kells» series on 3 March 2010 from cask #14299. This review looks at bottle #134 of a total of 246. I tried this at Bar Main Malt in Kobe, Japan.

The nose is sweet and lush but not as fruity as I would have expected looking at the colour. There are dark fruits there all right but somewhat subdued: the focus is more on figs and oranges rather than plums and raisins. Next there are notes of strawberries, vanilla cake, and beeswax. Earthy and a bit musty towards the end.

The palate is full-bodied and lush with notes of plums, dates and oranges. The vanilla cake flavours are back, now together with liquorice and strawberry jam. Later on a salty note comes to the fore, followed by more earthy flavours and a hint of smoke. Interestingly the palate is quite a bit fruitier than the nose.

The finish is of medium length and dry. It starts with notes of orange peel and quite some salt, then becomes sweeter with honey and vanilla flavours slowly developing.

A delightful Clynelish bottling by all means, with great depth and a complex array of flavours. It would be fantastic to have a bottle of this at home but nowadays we have to resort to well-stocked whisky bars to taste the greatness of yesteryear. Good stuff and now 'officially' my 2018 Christmas dram. Happy holidays!

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