Well, actually - it's slightly more complicated than that. The old Clynelish
distillery was closed in May 1968 and the new one went into production a
month later. That could have been the last that we ever heard of the old
distillery - if it hadn't been for the weather in another part of Scotland, on
the Western island of Islay. Due to a severe drought on the island, brand
owners DCL (the owners of SMD) find themselves short on peated malts.

This profile is dedicated to the new Clynelish distillery, constructed in 1968
by SMD. The old Clynelish distillery right across the street is now known as
Brora and was built in 1819 by the Marquess of Stafford. When the new
distillery (circa three times larger than the first) went into operation the old
Clynelish distillery remained operational and was re-named after the town.

When the new Clynelish distillery was built in 1967 and 1968 the stills were copied as closely as possible from those at the old distillery. I've been told that they achieved a close likeness to the old Clynelish house style - lightly peated but a much lighter style of whisky than the 'Islay style' malts that were produced at Brora between 1969 and 1983. While most bottlings of Brora do very well on the Malt Maniacs Matrix the opinions about the average bottling of Clynelish tend to be more divided. Members of 'the wine brigade' (like Serge and Olivier) who appreciate subtlety usually enjoy a Clynelish more than some of the 'Nordic' maniacs who prefer heavier, stronger flavours.
But that's the beauty of the malt whisky world - the wide variety in styles keeps it interesting...

It's not that the 'Islay style' heavily peated single malts were as trendy as they are today; DCL just needed peated malt whisky for their number one blend; Johnnie Walker. The blend had a fair amount of Islay malts in its recipe and sales were growing fast. So, DCL decided to experiment with the production of a more heavily peated malt whisky on the mainland. The old Clynelish distillery happened to be vacant, so it was re-named Brora - and the production of malt whisky resumed again at the location in 1969. Brora enjoyed the new lease on life for more than a decade, but in 1983 the distillery was closed again - this time for good.

Meanwhile, the brand new Clynelish
distillery fared better. The old malt
had been popular among blenders
and the spirit from the new distillery
served their needs just as well. The
new distillery used exact copies of
the stills at Brora (simply more of
them), so I guess that worked out
pretty much as they had planned.

Which reminds me; the occasional single malt Scotch whisky
drinker might not be familiar with Diageo - so please allow
me to quickly explain. Clynelish was initially licensed to a
company named Ainslie & Heilbron (Distillers) Ltd., Glasgow.
The Clynelish distillery became property of United Distillers
in 1986. United Distillers merged with IDV (International
Distillers & Vintners) in 1998 to form UDV, which is short
for United Distiller & Vintners. If I understand the 'Gordon
Gekko' corporate structure correctly, UDV is either part of
whisky industry giant Diageo or sort of synonymous with it.
Diageo owns almost 30 different malt whisky distilleries.

1) Out of the 27 active distilleries that Diageo owned in 2006, only three had a higher production capacity than Clynelish's 3,400,000 litres at the time; Caol Ila, Glendullan and Dufftown. The latter two were 'tarted up' into the 'Singleton' brand in 2007, together with Glen Ord. The name 'Singleton had formerly been used by Auchroisk.

2) Compared to the Brora malts Clynelish seems light in style, but in fact medium peated malt is used.

3) More trivia on Clynelish will be added later...
 

Here's a selection of the Clynelishes (yes, that seems to be the correct plural) I've tasted so far;

Clynelish 11yo 1989/2001 (56.7%, Signatory Vintage, South-African sherry butt #3233)
Additional details: Distilled 17/5/1989, bottled 15/02/2001. There's also cask #3241 bottled in 2002.
Nose: Very strange. Sherry - but not as we know it. Unlike anything else I've tried so far.
The character is composed of a strange mixture of sherry and bourbon characteristics.
It really opens up with a few drops of water, becoming very rich. Sweeter with time.
Taste: A big burn. Bittersweet. Chewy. Oaky. Fruity? This is a very special malt.
Score: 80 points - Very intruiging. Maybe it's the South-African sherry butt?

Clynelish 13yo 1990 (59.3%, Blackadder Raw Cask, Cask#3593, Sherry Finish).
Nose had peat - and lots of it. This could very well be the peatiest Clynelish I've tried so far.
Sweetness & organics. Sweaty. Roasted coffee beans. It loses some of its impact over time.
Taste: Ssurprisingly potent as well; a punch of peat followed by an ultra dry finish. Lovely!
Score: 90 points - Simply fabulous.

Clynelish 1989/2002 (46%, Wilson & Morgan, Bourbon Barrel)
Nose: Smooth and creamy start, growing grainier, then sweeter. A tad grassy. Holly?
Fresh. Apple? No, a young pear - not quite ripe yet. Subtle spices. Surprisingly gentle.
Taste: Something fruity - but this is no whimpy whisky. Clean and straightforward. Light but firm.
Score: 83 points - A fine dram, but like other Clynelish bottlings it could be a little more 'extreme'.

Clynelish 1989/2003 (46%, Wilson & Morgan, Marsala Finish)
Nose: Light and very fruity. More coastal notes and organics float to the surface.
Fruit cake. Mellow. Many subtle and spicy surprises hiding behind the wall of fruits.
After some five minutes more organics appear. Maybe even a faint hint of smoke?
Palate: Sweet. Gentle woody notes. Quite dry in the centre. Cranberries? Nice!
Just as it seems to settle down into mellow fruits it comes back with a spicy punch.
Score: 85 points - up from an original 82 points. This one really gets better with time.
I'm certainly not against exotic finishes if it produces malts like this. Good work.

Clynelish 14yo (46%, OB, Bottled +/- 2003)
Nose: Malty and creamy. Sherry and organics. Developing sweetness. Spices. Smoke.
Opens up a little with time, but doesn't choose sides. The slightest hint of peat pops up.
Taste: Dry and hot start, mellowing out into a sour centre. Some liquorice. A bit flat.
Little development after that; the taste just slowly fades away in a winey, bitter finish.
Score: 77 points - I have to admit I expected a bit more from the successors of Brora.
I have to say the nose grew on me with time, so maybe the bottle just needs to break in.

Clynelish 14yo (43%, UDV Flora & Fauna, Bottled +/- 2000)
Nose: Malty and grainy at the same time. Some coastal traits under a sherry coating.
Some of these F&F bottlings seem to have a style that overwhelms the distillery character.
Taste: Gritty and dry at first. Woody elements don't mix very well with the rest.
Score: 76 points - Slightly better than average; nothing more and nothing less.

Clynelish 1992/2007 (58.5%, The Whisky Society / Sukhinder Singh)
Nose: Light & fruity. Perfect for a light supper on a spring evening. Then more chemical notes appear.
Hint of oil? Then passion fruits. The very light peatiness that registers as chloride in my nose.
Taste: Sweet cardboard. Very pleasant mouth feel. Fruity. Remarkable 'dip' before the long, satisfying finish.
Score: 88 points - one of the surprises of the Malt Maniacs Awards 2007 for me. A tad too rough in the finish.

Clynelish 18yo 1983 (46%, Benivor / W. Milroy, Bottled +/- 2002)
Nose: Polished. Light. Quite coastal in character, but not very powerful.
Some light fruity elements, developing into a more organic complexity. Quite nice.
Taste: Quite smooth at first. Then a slow sweet burn develops, growing drier. Chloride?
Prickles like a soft drink. A dash of water seems to bring out the dry, coastal elements.
And then I got a hint of honey liquorice again; could this be one of the 'marker's of Clynelish?
Score: 80 points - in the end it reaches 'recommendable' territory.

Clynelish 28yo 1976/2004 (46%, Murray McDavid Mission IV, 600 bottles)
Nose: Hey, surprisingly peaty! No wait, it quickly becomes smokier. Very powerful in the nose.
Smoke and diesel over a fruity undercurrent. Hint of leather? Nicely polished. Peanuts? Hubba Bubba?
Don't finish your glass too quickly, though - after fifteen minutes it grows notably more complex. Nice...
Taste: Some smoke in the start. More smoke in the centre, followed by wood and fruits. Smoky finish.
Every now and then the smoke is driven into the background by brief flashes of peat. Faint liquorice.
Score: 90 points - one of the most potent Clynelishes I've tried so far. A real smoke monster.
Bonus points for character. In a blind test I would probably guessed this was an old Glen Garioch.
Make sure to sniff your empty glass - that's quite a treat as well.

Clynelish 1971/2005 (45.7%, M&H Cask Selection, Refill hogshead, 228 bottles)
Nose: Very light with a touch or organics in the background. Chloride. Sweet and a little grassy.
A surprising fruity kick in the back of the nose. Quite solid. A light Speysider? Glenlivet? Glenmorangie?
Taste: Sweet and fruity as well. A little more body than the nose suggests. Dry, satisfying finish.
A deep, long, warming sweetness on the palate as well. Overripe banana or gooseberries. Lovely!
Score: 85 points - a tad light for me, but I like it (just enough to reach the upper 80's).

Clynelish 1972/2005 (49.4%, The Whisky Exchange, 206 bottles)
Nose: Light and grainy. Hint of fruits. Opens up after a minute, becoming spicier. A tad too subtle for me.
Aaaah... It seems much bigger in the nose during my second glass and some more air. Organics.
Taste: Fruity start. Solid malty centre with a touch of sweetness. Growing bitter towards the finish.
Lovely liquorice on the palate. This is one of those malts that require time and attention.
Score: 82 points - this really shines at moments, but you have to keep working at it.
 

These were not all the (official and independent) expressions of Clynelish whisky I've tried over the years.
My Track Record used to contain a complete overview of all the single malts I've tried, but when I passed the 2000 malts mark (and the complete whisky list wouldn't fit on two separate HTML pages anymore) I gave up. My Liquid Log still contains my tasting notes on most single malts I've sampled and scored, though. You can find a specific expression through the search box at the top of each distillery profile. The mAlmanac now contains (purely personal) selections of some of the best single malts and the worst whiskies I've tried so far - as well as the ones with the highest 'Bang-For-Your-Buck' value. But those tasting notes and scores only reflect my own, purely personal opinions. On Serge's distillery profile on Whiskyfun you can find another perspective on the whisky made at this distillery. Check out the Malt Maniacs Monitor on Malt Maniacs for my scores on all expressions I've tried so far - and those of almost all the other certified malt maniacs as well. The Malt Maniacs Matrix contains a few thousand single malts that were sampled and scored by at least four different malt maniacs, so you can compare our individual opinions.
 
 

Partly due to the initial focus on blenders, Clynelish wasn't
easy to find as a single malt in the 1990's. At some point a
14 years old semi-official 'Flora & Fauna' bottling became
available. This was replaced with the proper official bottling
depicted above in 2003 - also bottled as a 14yo. Clynelish
was included in Diageo's 'Classic Malts Selection' in 2005,
along with (among others) Caol Ila, Cardhu, Glen Elgin,
Glen Ord, Knockando and Royal Lochnagar. As the sole
representative of the 'Coastal East' region on Diageo's new
distillery map (you can find it on their website), it mirrors the
lonely position of Oban in the 'Coastal West' area.