After a brief change of dram, here’s another expressions from the latest Darkness! installation by Master of Malt (or Maverick Drinks is you like). Just like the previous Darkness! whiskies , this Clynelish spent a finishing period of 3 months in tiny, specially coopered, fresh, first-fill Oloroso Sherry casks with huge surface area to volume ratios prior to bottling, as to “enhance it” and endow it with quite some sherry goodness.
Darkness! Clynelish 16 Year Old Oloroso Cask Finish , 54.9% , £74(0.5 litre)
Nose: Spicy and sweet. Lots of fresh ground pepper on top of dried fruit (mainly dates & figs) with hints of leather , heavily roasted coffee beans , wax and spices. Sweet with old school butterscotch candy but not overly sweet in spite of the heavy sherry influence.
Palate: thick and oily. sun dried dates paste, Silan (a sort of honey made from dates) . Pepper and more butterscotch candy getting creamier after the initial pepper disappears. A certain saltiness comes to mind too. As well as coffee flavoured dark chocolate.
Finish: Spicy. Peppery & salty.
Actually this was felt more balanced than the BIG FAT PX that was the Benrinnes PX
Highly enjoyable. Thick, and the salty sweetness is a lovely combination. Certainly not cheap for a 0.5 litre bottle, but It’s a really special Clynelish.