So, yesterday I scored 50 points based on region and age, which is not a very high score, but in my case it’s the record of, I guess, the last few years. I was a happy camper with that.

There were quite a few people with 100 points yesterday, as there were with the Laphroaig Cairdeas. Apart from that Ewald has done his utmost to make things hard for us this year. He’s doing well, but what he’s also doing well is picking drams. There have been a lot of good whiskies in the competition this year. More than ever before I think.

Image from Whiskybase

Sniff:
Slightly dry malt on the nose with quite some oak and a hint of vanilla. There’s apple peels, some resin but still rather crisp. Pine, mint and a touch of honey.

Sip:
The arrival on the palate is very smooth, but it gains in intensity very quickly. Oak, grain, resin. Quite dry with all these flavors. Also pine, sage and a very small hint of salt.

Swallow:
The finish suddenly brings a hint of minerals and some pepper. Rich, but dry with resin and wax and honey.

From the first whiff that got to my nose I was thinking Clynelish, and every bit that came after reinforced that idea. I had no idea to the age but I did get some woody notes on the nose so I was going for late teens. Not too strong, but cask strength.

That’s all a damn shame since it turned out to be a 25 year old at 45.8%. The ABV still is cask strength, but I estimated it a lot higher (54.5 was my guess. I took data from a 17 year old Clynelish by WhiskyBroker).

Anyway, I still got 40 points, which is a very good score and the first time I get the distillery right this year. I’m happy with it and it propelled me from the 38th spot to a shared 29th place. I wonder how much I am going to ruin that again tonight!

Clynelish 25, 45.8% at the moment of bottling (with the Cask Ends, it varies per bottle), Cadenhead’s Cask Ends. It used to cost £ 100 / £ 105