Yes, yes, I picked this up for the label. 

Now that that mystery is sorted, we can get to the review! This is a rather modern Clynelish from 1995, bottled by Taiwan's very own Spirits Shop' Selections (酒如坊).

Spirits Shop' Selections only founded in 2014, has grown to become a highly prolific independent bottler by its own right. They've primarily focused on Scotch, but have also bottled rums as well, most of which are pretty well-aged stock, and aside from that, also distribute quite a sizeable range of spirit brands such as Ichiro's, Hampden, FEW Spirits, LM&V's selections, That Boutique-y -, Sansibar, and many more. The Taiwanese independent bottler's work can always be quickly spotted by the oriental art that typically adorns its selections - it has a very tastefully classic artsy style, really. 

Taiwan's Spirits Shop' Selection. (Image Source: Travel Luxe)

And how is it that an independent bottler can succeed so swimmingly, you might ask? Well, the IB was founded by none other than Eric Huang, a reputable whisky expert in Asia, whose accolades includes being a judge on the World Whisky Awards panel and also being the Chairman of the Taiwan and Hong Kong Single Malt Whisky Association - so you could say the man knows a thing or two about how to run an IB.

Now, back to the Clynelish at hand - aside from being rather adorable, I also found it somewhat poetic. See, the Highland Scotch distillery Clynelish, has always taken the native Scottish Highland wild cat as its chief motif - this also happens to be represented on the Sutherland coat of arms which belonged to the Duke of Sutherland, who presided over where Clynelish Distillery is based in. And thus if you see a cat on a Scotch whisky label, 9 out of 10 times it's probably a Clynelish whisky that's bottled inside. The remaining 1 instance it isn't you probably mistook the cat for an elephant.

The Scottish wildcat. (Image Source: Woodland Trust)

And so as you can see in this label from Spirits Shop' Selection, rather than the traditional Scottish wildcat, we've instead got an oriental domestic cat that I interpret to be a two-fold homage to the Clynelish Distillery (where the whisky is from) and a nod to the Asian heritage that Taiwan's Spirits Shop' Selection carries.

Lovely, lovely.

Let's give this a taste shall we? Onward.

Clynelish 1995, 24 Year Old, Spirits Shop Selection Hogshead #10179, 57% ABV - Review

Tasting Notes

Color: Canola Oil, Light Straw

Aroma: Bright meadowy notes of wildflowers, pressed flowers, hay, sweet vanilla cream, a light farmhouse animalic scent - saddles, also with a light green fruitiness of green apples, pears, gooseberries, green grapes. It’s quite punchy, even if the flavours seem mellow. Over time there’s some yellow fruits - alittle bit of jackfruit, kind of fleshy and estery.

Taste: Alot gentler - vanilla cream, a distinct minerality, with some industrial notes too - grease, some cigarette ash, and alittle bit more honey. It’s got a slightly thicker than medium texture, quite buttery. 

Finish: A lingering all coating warmth, with some vanilla cream, pepper, and a slight sourness.

My Thoughts

Quite distinctively old school - all those meadow-y and vanillic notes combined with more austere ashy and industrial notes. It’s got all those hallmarks checked with no discernible concerns here.

Style aside, I certainly liked the aroma - sometimes these old school Scotch can get alittle sour or too funky, this completely dodged all of that. I especially appreciated that this wasn’t ridiculously complex - which by the way really doesn’t always have to be the case for it to be enjoyable. I really like this breadth of the old school profile with that slightly thickness to the scent. That said it did get alittle prickly at times.

As is quite observable from the length of the tasting notes - it’s again pretty simple on the palate, which is fine given that the flavours were held well together considering again the buttery texture. Texture is super underrated - if you don’t have that body, it’s incredibly difficult to provide a good medium for the flavours to be delivered!

The finish was alright as well, not too much worth mentioning about either.

So all things said, this is an above average rendering of that old school Scotch profile - which is really then comes down to a matter of personal preference regarding the profile itself, which is really quite distinctive.

I’m personally rather on the fence about it, although @CharSiuCharlie is a big fan. I find it alittle too austere for me, with not enough depth and sweetness, and often times there’s a massive accompanying farm-y funkiness (not in this case, but is often so).

My Rating: 7/10

Score/Rating Scale :

• 9-10 : Exceptional, highly memorable, 10/10 would buy if I could.
• 7-8 : Excellent, well above most in its category, worth considering buy-zone.
• 4-6 : Good, okay, alright; a few flaws, but acceptable; not bad, but not my personal preference; still worth trying, could be a buy if the price is right.
• 1-3 : Not good; really did not enjoy; wouldn't even recommend trying.
• 0 : Un-scored, might be damaged, new make, or very unusual.

Kanpai!

@111hotpot