Home Tasting: Clynelish 1994-2005 10 Year Exclusive Malts

A bottle that made me aware of my own changes. Clynelish CLYNELISH 1994-2005 10yo EXCLUSIVE MALTS 51.8% ・Aroma: Plum jam, dry orange, ripe apricot, caramelized nuts with a strong presence, slight but fresh sherry notes, honey, oily and rich, slightly waxy, a damp graininess from the depth, Danish pastry, peat from the depths. ・Flavor: Spreading from a smooth mouthfeel with a slippery viscosity, gradually becoming spicy, sherry, apricot jam, honey, caramelized nuts, a rich sweetness, slightly earthy root vegetables and beans with a touch of dashi soy sauce, umami from the grain in the depth, a moderate astringency, faint peat, later becoming oily with a thick body. ・Aftertaste: The jammy sweetness and oily nutty nuances linger for a long time. ・Dilution: The sherry notes weaken while the waxiness intensifies. The Clynelish character becomes more pronounced. ・Overall Review: Although there's a slight rawness in the sherry notes, it remains a rich Clynelish. The house style is felt beneath the sherry character and can be drawn out even with dilution. Despite its aging period, it lacks a sense of immaturity and is well-crafted. 【Good/Very Good】 Clynelish 1994, aged for 10 years. An early label from Exclusive Malts. While there's no explicit mention, tasting it gives a sense of sherry cask aging with a slightly raw nuance reminiscent of recent years. This bottle, which I bought and drank around 9 years ago at the time of its release, was a bottle that clearly showcased the house style, which I drank entirely in one go. I happened to have the opportunity and purchased it slightly overpriced as a nostalgic bottle. However, upon tasting this time, the aroma and flavor didn't match my memory, leaning more towards recent sherry dominance. Of course, it's a rich and delicious bottle, and considering its 10-year aging specification for distillation, it's well-crafted. However, compared to 9 years ago, the tasting notes now show both improved and deteriorated aspects. For bottles like this one, where I used to only perceive the good parts of the past, drinking it now sometimes brings a slightly regretful feeling. Of course, there's no blame on the bottle itself. It was a bottle that made me realize my own changes over these 9 years.