Last Night's Tipple

Diageo has gone a little crazy with their Classic Malts series recently. When it started out a few years ago, it included only Scotches (Talisker, Oban, Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Lagavulin, and Glenkinchie) representing a wide variety of styles and flavor profiles. Within the past year or so, Diageo has expanded the lineup to include several others, including Caol Ila, Royal Lochnagar, and Clynelish. Good as these additions may be, they largely duplicate the styles that previously were represented in the collection. It seems like Diageo has noticed that they can sell their Classic Malts for more than they can their unclassic malts, so they decided to label all of their malts Classic Malts. That seems a little cheesy to me, but I might be willing to forgive them if they distributed the one new Classic Malt that I really want to try (Royal Lochnagar) in the US. Alas, they don't, at least not yet.

Regardless of the degree to which the expansion of the Classic Malt program represents cheesiness, when I saw Clynelish 14 year old at a local liquor store recently, I decided that I had to have it. What can I say? I'm both slave to marketing and constitutionally unable to pass up novelty. In any event, the whisky is, um, interesting. It's a Scotch from the Highlands, but it struck me more as a mellowed-out Islay. I get a good dose of peat on the nose and a decent amount of brininess on the palate, both of which are notes that Islay Scotches are noted for. With some time in the glass, I also started to pick up some sherried sweetness that was very pleasant. I can't say that I loved this whisky, but it was complex and challenging and ultimately enjoyable.