The names of more and more distilleries are no longer allowed to be mentioned on the label of independent bottlings. A pity of course, but the bottler can’t help that, as this is a choice of these distilleries themselves. Fortunately, you often see that funny and/or creative solutions are being devised so that you still know what is actually in the bottle. The same goes for this Highland Single Malt 2010 from the Thompson Bros, where a cat is shown on the label, indicating this is a Clynelish.
Released a few months ago, this Clynelish was one I’ve been waiting for. Because besides being one of my favourite distilleries, these bottlings from 2010 are often very good. The last one I reviewed was this Clynelish 2010 from Elixir Distillers, which I absolutely loved. So let’s see what this one has to offer.
This Clynelish has matured in a refill barrel and is bottled at a strength of 57.3% ABV.
Highland Single Malt 2010 tasting notes:
Nose: sweet ripe pears and lemon peels. A thick layer of vanilla custard and some lovely wax. Honeycomb and a hint of freshly baked bread. A grassy note and green leaves. Baklava, but also a note of olive oil.
Taste: rather creamy with notes of creme brulee. Acacia honey. There is a waxy note again and it’s slightly vegetal. A touch of leather? Followed by minerals and lemons. Pink grapefruit, a vague earthy note and a pinch of black pepper.
Finish: A long finish with lemons, vanilla and minerals. A hint of black pepper too.
This just goes to show why I love Clynelish so much and this is another of those younger releases that is just very, very good. The wax is well present, but there is more. Sometimes fruity and sometimes quite sweet with even a hint of Baklava (a Turkish pastry) in the nose, but also minerals and both an earthy and vegetal note are present here. Yes, I will definitely enjoy this for a while! Delicious stuff!
