Clynelish 14 Years Royal Marine Hotel (Bot. 1960s)

DESCRIPTION

An extremely rare 14 year old Clynelish bottled by the Royal Marine Hotel Brora. The label interestingly mentions it’s A Fine Old Brora Whisky and Not Less Than 92 proof. We believe this would have been bottled in 1969 making this a 1955 distillate. This is a truly extraordinary piece of liquid history.

TASTING NOTES (by Whiskyfun.com)

full gold. Nose: yesssss, it must be Old Clynelish. Peaty like a Laphroaig from the 60’s, starting on old walnuts, metal polish and leather as well as cigar box, it gets then more resinous and mineral at the same time. Notes of gunflints, fir honeydew, unlit Havana cigar, fern… Extremely complex. Then it’s all on orange marmalade, then even more on unlit cigars (amazing), then fully on parsley and lovage, then it’s rather coffee beans, Smyrna raisins and caramel, then, then, then… (censored by the anti-maltoporn brigade)… Mouth: excellent attack, vibrant, nutty, bitter and peaty like no other distillery. A lot of bitter orange peel, smoked tea, bitter caramel, toasted bread… Granted, it’s probably not as magnificent as on the nose and less multidimensional but it’s still very excellent. And still quite malty and almost hot after all these years. OBE is more obvious on the palate than on the nose, that is. Gets cleaner after a little breathing, more definite, more resinous as well. Mastic? Argan oil? Interesting notes of gin-orange, chlorophyll chewing-gum… Dry martini? Okay, this isn’t James Bond so let’s switch to the finish, which is amazingly long for an old bottle, resinous, a little bitter like some German herb liqueurs (no names) and finally curiously meaty (grilled beef). Wow, this one was entertaining, to say the least. The palate was one class below the nose but the whole is truly beautiful whisky. Had a forger made this one up, he’d have been the stupidest forger in the world. 93 points.

PRODUCT SUMMARY