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Clynelish 27 Year Old 1974 Dumpy Signatory Vintage Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2001) 70cl PLEASE READ
Clynelish 27 Year Old 1974 Dumpy Signatory Vintage Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2001) 70cl *PLEASE READ*
An old and rare treasure we have here typically sold for more than £1500 or more.
This bottle is old and deteriorated slightly at the seal so therefore, carries a discount of £300.
1 of 299 bottles produced only
This is bottle number 4. We are unlikely to ever see this again in stock due to its age and rarity.
A 27 year old Clynelish from 1974 by the respected independent bottler Signatory. Clynelish is a distillery in the Highland region in Scotland. Bottled at a nice drinking strength of 57.1% this whisky comes in a 70cl bottle.
Signatory was founded by Andrew Symington in 1999. After discovering single cask single malt whisky while managing Prestonfield House Hotel, Andrew bought his first cask, a Glenlivet 1968, and is now one of the largest independent bottlers in Scotland. As of 2002, Signatory Vintage Whisky company is also the owner of the Edradour distillery.
About Clyenelish / Brora
Clynelish is, today, a rarity in that it produces a ‘waxy’ new make spirit – think snuffed candles or waxed jackets – a character which is created in a most unusual fashion.
Clear worts and long ferments start the process, while distillation involves maximising copper conversation – unusually, but not uniquely, Clynelish’s spirit stills are larger than its wash stills.
This regime would help to produce a fruity spirit were it not for what happens in the feints receiver. In any distillery there is a natural precipitation of oils in this tank which would normally be removed during the distillery’s annual silent season when the plant is fully cleaned.
When this happened at Clynelish, the waxy character disappeared. Realising that the gunk had specific qualities, these days it is removed during silent season and then replaced. The mature character retains waxiness as a mouth-coating texture allied to citric notes and, occasionally, a little mineral/ozone hint. Tastings of single malts (and blends) from the 1950s and 1960s suggest that waxy was a significantly more prevalent style industry-wide in those days.
When low-peated or unpeated, Brora shares this thick, waxy, oilskin-like character, along with scented grass, fruits and pepper. When heavily smoked, the peat comes across as maritime.
Clynelish’s ultimate success – indeed cult status – is one which came out of human tragedy. This is one of a number of ‘Clearance’ distilleries (Talisker is another example) which appeared in the earlier part of the 19th century. This was a period when some landowners, seeing the profits which could be made from sheep farming, forcibly moved their tenant farmers from their ancestral lands. Caithness and Sutherland were the scenes of the most brutal of these clearances, the perpetrators The Duke (and especially Duchess) of Sutherland and their estate managers.
Some of the farmers were shipped abroad, others went to the Central Belt, and those who remained were in this case moved to new settlements where they were put to work for their laird’s new business enterprises.
The Duke of Sutherland established a number of businesses in the town of Brora: a coal mine, brick and tile works, weaving, salt panning and a distillery which he called Clynelish. All were staffed by former farmers who were paid in coin which could only be redeemed at the company’s shops – whose profits went to the Duke.
The distillery was not a success in its early years. It only began to build a reputation in 1896 when blenders Ainslie & Heilbron bought it in partnership with John Risk, who was to become the outright owner in 1912. By the end of the century it had become the most highly-priced single malt
Risk worked in close co-operation with DCL and the blending firm of John Walker & Sons and, when the latter was folded into DCL in 1925, Clynelish came too. It closed in the 1930s, but produced small amounts of spirit during the Second World War.
In common with a large number of DCL distilleries, a new plant with six stills was built alongside the original distillery in 1968 (until then, Clynelish had only a single pair of stills). The old plant was put into mothballs for a year before running alongside as ‘Clynelish B’.
It was renamed Brora in 1969, when it began producing a heavily-peated spirit for blending purposes. This was the result of, initially, Islay suffering from a drought and then Caol Ila being rebuilt. Brora’s heavily peated years continued until 1973, after which the smoke was cut back (sometimes totally). It finally closed in 1983. These days, like many lost distilleries, it has become a cult malt, and the original distillery is currently being rebuilt.
Clynelish itself has long played an important role within the house of John Walker & Sons, with a 14-year-old, originally launched as part of Diageo’s ‘Hidden Malts’ portfolio, and an oloroso-finished Distiller’s Edition as the range.
In 2014, Diageo announced a £30m expansion of Clynelish, but the plan has since been postponed.
In 2018, the company revealed plans to spend £150m on upgrading tourism facilities, including a new brand home for Johnnie Walker in Edinburgh, and improved visitor centres at Clynelish, plus Glenkinchie, Cardhu and Caol Ila, representing regional styles present in Walker.
Clynelish’s ‘comprehensive upgrade’ will include a new bar and tasting area, as well as improved landscaping around the distillery.
About Brora
Originally known as Clynelish, Brora has become a cult whisky.
The bottlings which we now see come from Brora’s last flaring. This was a time when the distillery was run specifically to fill in perceived holes in DCL’s inventory. As a result you will find Broras which are immensely oily and smoky, as well as some in which there is the merest exhalation of peat. The waxy, oily, marine/mineral characters seen in Clynelish are however always present, but in magnified form. Rather than the orange oil of Clynelish, here there is more lemon acidity. There was, sadly, a small run of bottlings with a butyric character, so be aware.
Diageo releases an annual – and limited – bottling as part of its Special Release programme. With growing interest in smoky whiskies – and closed distilleries – Brora has become a cult malt.
Brora – or as it was originally known, Clynelish – is one of Scotland’s Clearance distilleries [see also Talisker]. It was built in 1819 by the Marquis of Stafford (later the Duke of Sutherland) who with his wife and her factors [estate managers] enacted some of the most brutal forced evictions in the Highlands, as part of an economic experiment which saw 15,000 farmers from their estate alone, moved off their land and resettled either on the coast, or sent to Canada and Australia.
Those who ended up in the new settlement at Brora were put to work in the Duke’s new business enterprises, one of which was distilling.
It took some time for the distillery to find its feet, passing through a number of lessees until George Lawson took charge. He and his sons would run the plant from 1846 to 1896 when they sold it to the Glasgow blender James Ainslie and his business partner John Risk who rebuilt the site that year.
Ainslie himself went bust in 1912 when Risk and DCL took shares in the firm, John Walker & Sons following in 1916. Risk was bought out in 1925, when Walker joined DCL and the latter took complete control in 1930.
It wasn’t until after the Second World War that the distillery began to increase capacity significantly as a result of demand for blends increasing. By 1967, this had reached such a height that it was decided that it would be easier to build a new and larger distillery – initially known as Clynelish 2 – alongside the original buildings than try to expand them.
The old distillery closed for a year, but reopened in 1969 and was in production, though not always at full capacity, until it closed in 1983.
In 1975, after a change in legislation banning two distilleries from being called the same, its name was changed to Brora. During 1972 to 1974 when DCL’s Caol Ila was being rebuilt, production of heavily peated malt was switched here. Also, during periods of drought on Islay, the production of DCL’s heavily peated requirements was switched to the far north east. This could explain why although Brora’s peating levels in general dropped after 1977, there are occasional heavily smoky expressions from the 1980s.
The distillery was closed finally in 1983, and although rumours surfaced occasionally about it reopening they seemed little more than wishful thinking.
However, in October 2017 Diageo revealed plans to reopen both Brora and Port Ellen distilleries, which also closed in 1983. Subject to planning permission, the two sites are expected to be operational once more by 2020.
55.7% ABV
70cl
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