When the original distillery was built in 1819 by the future Duke of Sutherland, the quality of Clynelish whisky was so prized that only private customers were supplied.
Over the years, Clynelish has continued to be held in high regard by experts. The great Victorian, Professor George Saintsbury, selected it as a favourite and today’s malt whisky gurus consistently praise its unique combination of North Highland and maritime qualities.
The bottle it comes in is tall and narrow and the color within is a perfect amber. Now, on to the tasting! The bouquet emanates sweet honey, lemongrass, and spice. The alcohol pierces strong in the nose though, and makes y
ou wonder if its crowding out some of the more subtle notes that would be found otherwise. This might be due to it’s alcohol content being on the rather high side at 46% for a scotch of this age. I prefer scotch’s right on the minimum 40% mark, but hey, thats just me.
As soon as this thick, viscous scotch hits your mouth it explodes on your taste buds with flavors of tart fruit and spice. As it burns down your throat the spice and fruit flavors immediately disappear and are replaced with a very subtle smokeyness on the mid-palate, accompanied by a good helping of sea salt. Its a weak smokey taste, almost tea-like, but I personally love it. 
The finish is a tad short and with it returns the fruitier flavors of before while dropping the saltiness.
Overall, an excellent scotch for 14 years age and at about $65 USD on the open market right on the money. It is definitely going into my usual rotation.
You really don’t know what you’re missing. Neither did I, until a recent trip to Argentina opened my eyes to what has to be one of the best marriages of drink and smoke ever. Late one night in a smokey club in Neuquen, a city in the south-west region (Patagonia, some call it), my brother in law orders us two drinks. Fernet con Coca. “Dos, por favor.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s the drink.” He replies utilizing 80% of his english vocabulary in one sentence. And he’s right, in a way. It is the drink. In Argentina, it is the national alcoholic beverage of choice. It is made with two simple ingredients: A shot of Fernet-Branca – an italian herbal digestif seriously high in alcohol content – and Coca-Cola. You start with a tall collins glass, fill to the brim with large ice cubes. Fill 1/10th with Fernet and the rest with Coke. The combination, for some reason unknown to me, creates a much thicker head of fizz than usual. Fernetis a type of amaro, a bitter, aromatic spirit. It is made from a number of different herbs and spices including myrrh, rhubarb, chamomile, cardamom, aloe, and saffron, with a base of grape distilled spirits.
The taste the Fernet imparts to the Coke is uncannily smokey. You can taste wood, especially cedar, along with tea leaves and dry earth. This is delicately framed by the sweetness of the Coke to create, in my opinion, a great addition to a smoke. Because the flavors of the Fernet are very broad, they don’t distract from the flavors of the cigar. In fact, they almost force your palate to get into the “zone” where you start to taste those nuances you read about in Cigar Aficionado. Abbiritions of orange peel, currant, wheat, honey; things many of the smokers I know say they have yet to taste, begin to appear on your tongue as bright and clear as day.
Of course, when I got back to the states, the first thing I went looking for was Fernet-Branca. Can it be found easily? Hell, yes. In fact the very first liquor store I visited had it. It is also easy to find at online retailers. The going price is around $24, which is fine considering you only need to use very little at a time. Check back soon, as I will soon be doing a video-blog tasting of an old favorite, a 2007 Illusione cg:4 that’s been cooking in my humidor and tasting it without, and then with Fernet con Coca. Hopefully we will see it enhance the flavors. Maybe it wont do shit. You’ll have to tune in to find out.