Особенности производства
Растение питается водой из источника Клинемилтон-Берн, протекающего через районы, богатые природными минералами. В цехах есть десять бродильных чанов: восемь из орегонской сосны и два из нержавеющей стали. Ферментация длится не менее 55 часов, в течение которых сусло приобретает характерные фруктовые оттенки продуктов бренда. Дистилляция происходит в медных кубах, самые большие из которых рассчитаны на 19 тысяч литров сырья. У компании нет возможности хранить виски на своей территории, поэтому большая часть продукции выдерживается на центральных складах Diageo.
Награды:
- The Spirits Business, 2009–2010 – золотая медаль;
- International Spirits Challenge, 2009–2010 – серебряная награда;
- International Wine & Spirit Competition, 2015 – золотая медаль, победа в номинации «Best in Class».
- Сан-Франциско World Spirits Competition, 2006-2009 – двойное золото;
Историческая справка
Винокурня Clynelish в Броре была построена герцогом Сазерлендом в 1819 году. Он основал множество предприятий в регионе, в том числе угольную шахту, производство кирпича и стекла, соль и винокурню. Фабрики занимали местные крестьяне, которые получали не деньги, а специальные монеты для покупок в магазинах компании. Таким образом, вся прибыль оседала в карманах владельца.
Продукция завода в первые годы существования не пользовалась большим успехом. Бренд стал известен после 1869 года уже при новых владельцах – Ainslie & Heilbron и John Risk, которые тесно сотрудничали с John Walker & Sons, которые начали использовать продукты Clynelish в своих смесях. Позже завод вошел в состав DCL, который затем был преобразован в Diageo.
В 1968 году рядом со старым корпусом винокурни был построен новый современный завод. Количество перегонных кубов увеличилось с двух до шести, что привело к значительному увеличению объемов производства. Старый ликеро-водочный завод назывался Brora и работал до начала 1980-х годов, производя виски с высоким содержанием торфа для купажей. В 2014 году Diageo объявила об очередной модернизации и временном закрытии Clynelish, но затем эти планы были отложены на неопределенный срок.
Clynelish History
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 distillery
Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
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.
ClynelishSingle Malt Scotch Whisky
Interestingly, the distillery building is an exact replica of Caol Ila. However, prior to the new distillery being built, the Clynelish name belonged to the distillery now known as Brora…
The Clynelish name started life in 1819 when a distillery was founded in the village of Brora by the Marquis of Stafford, later known as the Duke of Sutherland. This notorious character is more famous in Scotland for his part in the Highland Clearances of the same year, when he evicted around 15,000 crofters from his land in order to farm sheep. It is speculated that he started the distillery to provide a market for his barley and to put the local moonshiners out of business.
After enjoying immense popularity almost from its inception (for long periods in its early history the malt produced at Clynelish was sold only to private customers and not to blenders at all), the distillery, in common with most of the industry, suffered in the period between the beginning of Prohibition in America and the end of WWII. Production ceased in the years 1931-38, and again from 1941-45.
During the subsequent recovery after the war demand from blenders for Clynelish malt was extremely high, so in 1967-68, owners Distillers Company Ltd (DCL, which was eventually to become part of Diageo) built a new distillery adjacent to the existing one to increase capacity. This distillery was also called Clynelish, as the company wished to trade on the existing good name of the old distillery. Unfortunately, there seems to be some confusion and lack of agreement as to the exact sequence of the events which followed in the history of the two distilleries, with little or no agreement on the dates.
It would appear that the original distillery ran in tandem with the new distillery under the names of Clynelish A and Clynelish B (sources disagree over which was the new distillery and which the original Clynelish) during 1968/9. Predictably, this arrangement was not to the liking of the Customs & Excise folk and the SWA due to the dissimilarity between the types of whisky being produced at the two distilleries. The original distillery was closed down in 1969 and then reopened at some point in the 1970s under the new name of Brora. The date of there-opening is unclear, although everyone seems to agree that it was definitely producing by 1975. It then operated intermittently, producing heavily peated (around 40ppm) whisky for blending purposes, before eventually becoming a victim of the DCL cull of distilleries in 1983.
The new Clynelish distillery was built as an exact replica of DCL’s modern Caol Ila distillery on Islay and has continued to produce a muscular, slightly peatymalt that ismuch valued by blenders – it is one of the base spirits for the excellent Johnnie Walker Gold Label. In recent years Caol Ila’s profile has increased thanks to some excellent independent bottlings and its incorporation into Diageo’s ‘Classic Malts’ series.
From the website
When you think of the great homes of malt whisky, you probably think first of Speyside and Islay. But other regions play a full part in whisky’s story, and Scotland’s far north-east, from where Clynelish comes, is one. Distilleries here on the stormy sea coast of Sutherland were forever few and far between, yet malt whisky enthusiasts have always championed Clynelish over many more famous names.
When the original distillery was built in 1819 by the future Duke of Sutherland, the quality of Clynelish whisky was so prized that only private customers were supplied.
Over the years, Clynelish has continued to be held in high regard by experts. The great Victorian, Professor George Saintsbury, selected it as a favourite and today’s malt whisky gurus consistently praise its unique combination of North Highland and maritime qualities.
You can almost taste the sea air in Clynelish, with its crisp, medium-bodied, mustard-fresh style. Although there isn’t an Islay’s pungent smokiness here, there is a trace or two of it. Don’t think that this is a heavy malt, though. Its clean taste makes it a fine aperitif – and you can enjoy it just as much later in the evening, such is its versatility.
“The most coastal-tasting mainland whiskies are those from Clynelish, between Inverness and Wick. They typically have seaweedy, salty and mustard-like aromas and flavours. Mustard-and-cress, perhaps? The 14-year-old is less peaty than some older editions.” Michael Jackson, whisky writer and expert.
