Clynelish Distillery

Founded in 1819, the original Clynelish distillery was built by the Duke of Sutherland near the seaside town of Brora in the Northern Highlands. However, the distillery that currently bears the Clynelish name sits across the road from the original. Water for both distilleries comes from the Clynemilton Burn Clynelish changed hands rapidly in its first century of life. James Harper, the first licenced distiller there, sold to John Matheson in 1827. George Lawson & Sons took over in 1846, and ownership passed again to James Ainslie & Heilbron in 1896. By 1925 Clynelish was in the ownership of Distillers Company Limited, which later became part of Diageo.

Like at many distilleries, global financial woes and two world wars took their toll on Clynelish in the mid 20th century. The distillery was mothballed in 1931. Despite reopening in 1939 it didn’t return to full production levels until after WWII.

In 1967 Distillers Company Limited built an entirely new distillery right next to the original. One of the biggest upgrades made at the time was tripling the number of stills from two to six.

The original Clynelish was resuscitated in 1969 under the brand Brora. Unusually for a highland distillery it produced heavily peated spirits to make up for shortages on Islay at the time. When conditions recovered on the island, Brora shifted to making lightly peated whiskies in 1973.

In 1983 Brora closed its doors once again. But Diageo continued to release Brora single malts over time. It was announced that the distillery will resume production in 2020.

The main Clynelish distillery is equipped with a 12.5 ton mash tun, 10 washbacks of wood and steel, and six stills. Unlike in most distilleries, the 19,000 litre spirit stills are larger than their wash still counterparts, which hold 17,000 litres each. Clynelish can turn out 4.8 million litres of spirits a year. Some maturation still takes place at the original distille ry’s warehouses, but most of it is carried out elsewhere.

The chief official bottling from Clynelish is its 14 year old single malt first released in 2002. This perfectly evokes the mixed grassland and seaside environment it was made in. Floral, slightly sweet aromas are followed by mixed citrus flavours in the mouth. A dry, salty finish calls the ocean to mind.

In 2014 a Select Reserve bottling with no age statement was released. Matured in ex- Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks, this single malt starts fruity and sweet on the nose. The sweet overtones stay strong on the palate but are joined by a spiciness that continues into the finish.