Scotland, Northern Highlands. Distillery operational. Owner: Diageo

Founded in 1967 on the site of its renowned colleague Clynelish #1 (renamed Brora in 1969), from which it takes its name, Clynelish began production in June 1968. At the cutting edge of technology, it tripled Brora's production capacity. Like Caol Ila, its peaty alter ego from Islay, the majority of its production was at the time fated to be absorbed by the blend Johnnie Walker. It would not be until 1994 that the first official versions would be released in the Rare Malts Selection for its vintage versions with high ABVs (Clynelish 1972, 23 Year Old, 63%), then in the Flora & Fauna range (Clynelish 14 Year Old, 43%), and finally in the Flora & Fauna Cask Strength range launched in 1997, which introduced a 1982 vintage.Niche and rare in the 80s and 90s, Clynelish was brought into the spotlight by independent bottlers (Gordon & MacPhail, Cadenhead, Signatory Vintage) who took the single malt in hand, offering numerous vintage and aged small batch and single cask versions, such as Clynelish 12 Year Old Orange Label Gordon & MacPhail, Clynelish 28 Year old 1971 Signatory Vintage and Clynelish 1972 Cask Strength Cadenhead.

A single cask Clynelish (#430341) distilled in 1972 and bottled in 2011 for the Single Malts of Scotland range after 38 years of maturation in a hogshead. 1972 was a great year for Clynelish and Brora, as demonstrated, for example, by Gordon & MacPhail’’s Clynelish 1972 and the Rare Malts Brora 1972. The Single Malts of Scotland is a range from Elixir Distillers also known for other selections such as Elements of Islay and Port Askaig. Elixir Distillers is part of the Speciality Drinks group, responsible for The Whisky Exchange store, which was founded by Sukhinder and Rakbir Singh in 1999. A limited edition of 439 bottles.