2020 Advent #2 - Cladach

It’s amusing that day 1 was An Cladach, and day 2 is this. Is there an Adach for tomorrow? Marketed as “The Coastal Blend,” that moniker and the blend's makeup intrigued me. The price did not. Fortunately I found a sample available and got that. Then the other day a review had me second guessing whether I should have pulled the trigger. Was it the right move?

Cladach Special Release 2018, Scotland Blended Malt, 57.1% ABV

Minutia: Comprised of Caol Ila, Lagavulin, Oban, Talisker, Clynelish, and Inchgower. No age statement or casks. Reviewed blind neat in a glencairn.

Color: Chestnut Oloroso Sherry, 1.2.

Nose: Familiar. Earthy caramel, vague smoke, slight hospital/lab.

Taste: Smoke, wood, spice, leather, tobacco kinda.

Finish: Earthy smoke, salinity. Medium long.

Guess: I was all over the place over the course of this. Initially it felt like Ledaig, then I was thinking Port Charlotte, then Caol Ila, or Lagavulin, and even Longrow crossed my mind though I don’t think I have any Longrows in the pool. If I did it would have been my guess. My guess would be either an Elements of Islay bottle or a blend.

While I couldn’t pinpoint it, I feel good about having been so confused since there are six parts of this, two of which were possible guesses. The ABV was a surprise, I was initially thinking about 50% as the nose had little burn to it, and took the over when there was some spice on the palate. Turns out I regret getting a sample instead of a bottle. No more stock will be the only reason I don’t order one sometime soon. Nicely done, Diageo. If Blue Label were this, nobody would have anything bad to say about it. 

Score: 90

Musical Evocation: Helsott – “Eight Drunken Celts”

Here are links to the other posts from this calendar:

Clynelish 14

I was looking for a few 200ml bottles of some regular expressions for which I have the Distillers Editions to do a side by side, and the pack that came with two of them had this in it. Fortunately people seem to like this a lot so it wasn’t like I ended up stuck with something awful. 

Clynelish 14, Highland Single Malt, 46% ABV

Minutia: Seems this features Bourbon and Sherry casks. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Russet muscat, 1.3.

Nose: Crisp fruit, apple. Underlying honey. Malt comes in and takes over, letting those other aromas in now and again, though sometimes those recurrences have a musty introduction.

Taste: Mostly malt, some fruit. Tastes nothing like cherry, artificial or natural, but reminds me of it, so I guess some cherry-like fruit I’ve not yet eaten. Low impact of ethanol creates a spicy sensation.

Finish: Slightly smoky (ever so slightly, I can’t stress how little, but it’s there a bit so worth mentioning) with apple, malt, and some honey at play.

I’ve seen this described as being peated, but I suspect whoever wrote it might be confusing it with the malt used by Brora when it was known as Clynelish or I was reading something that was about Clynelish of the past but thought it was about the present. Scotchwhisky.com’s whiskypedia lists their malt specification as non-peated. If this is in fact peated, it’s not really useful to think of it as such as it’s simply not a present factor. Maybe it’s like Bunnahabhain’s core expressions where peat is involved but only nominally, or whoever does the malting for Clynelish looks over at a pile of peat as they dry the barley with gas or whatever it is that’s used by the heathens who make barley 50% as good as it could be. Still, it’s simple and not punchy, but nice. I won’t seek more for myself, but it’s nice to know it exists as an option when I’m not looking for peat but want something lighter with some substance. If I find myself ever curating my home selection to have bottles that appeal to people other than me, it’s a likely choice to keep on hand in that case.

Score: 81

Musical Evocation: Buckethead – “Binge and Grab”

Compass Box Flaming Heart 2018

So far the only Compass Box blends I’ve gone for are Peat Monster and the No Names. I was ordering some samples and this was available as such so I figured, “why not?” since the more you get the more cost effective shipping from Europe to the United States is.

Compass Box Flaming Heart 2018 (6th edition), Scotland Blend, 48.9% ABV

Minutia: This is a doozy. As always Compass Box is super transparent about what’s in that bottle, and this has quite the mix:

*39% Caol Ila, refill barrel

*29% Deanston, refill hogsheads

*11% Clynelish, re-charred hogsheads

*8% Highland malt blend (60% Clynelish, 20% Dailuaine, 20% Teaninich), vatted then matured in custom French oak casks with heavy toast

*7% Highland malt blend (including Glen Ord, Benrinnes, and Allt-a-Bhainne), in a mixture of first fill Sherry butts, custom French oak casks, and refill American oak barrels

*6% Clynelish, refill hogsheads

Enjoyed neat in a glencairn, rested 10 minutes.

Color: A darker white wine.

Nose: Fruit on the pour. Smoky fruit, apple, green wood.

Taste: Peaty malt, some peppery feel.

Finish: Long but low-powered.

Really nice smoke/peat. I’d have liked to taste more of the fruit I smelled. Even so, I really enjoyed this - it’s a real shame this isn’t part of their regular lineup. If they could source enough of the components to make it more regularly available (and priced more modestly) that would be a wonderful thing for people who like whisky, though I suppose there is something to the scarcity that might make it a bit more special.

Score: 83