Review #83 - SMWS 26.192 'Afternoon Baking' - Clynelish 10 Year

A fun little experiment for today's reviews - we're looking at two 10 year old single cask SMWS bottles which were distilled at Clynelish. We want to look at the nuances that separate individual barrels add to a spirit, especially when the spirit has essentially the same specifications other than the singular barrels. How much difference does a unique barrel really create in a whisky?

This is the first of the two - ‘Afternoon Baking,’ a 10 year old Clynelish.

SMWS 26.192 'Afternoon Baking' - Clynelish 10 Year

Scotland/Highlands - Single Malt

Price Paid: USD 135 (2022)

Current Locally Available Price: No longer available

Age Statement: 10 Years

Strength: 59.5% ABV

Cask Makeup: Fully matured in a first fill ex-bourbon barrel

Details: 1 of 231 bottles, distilled February 8, 2011

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 5 times over the course of about 3 months; the fill levels of the bottles ranged from 100% full to about 70% over the course of the reviews. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes (occasionally a few minutes more). We did sometimes add water, as well

Nose: True to its name, we start off with lots of baking notes: brown sugar, vanilla bean, sugary cereal notes, and honey come to mind. We have spices, too: nutmeg, cardamom, and peppercorns, along with a bit of bubblegum and some sharper grain. It's pretty potent overall, and past the baking elements, we have some mild candle wax and a bit of perfume. There is a little bit of fruit here, too: light tart lemon curd, or a meringue, some mild creamy orchard fruit, and strawberry hard creme candies. The oak is sugary but dry.

Palate: The baking theme is even stronger on the palate; in our tastings, we found lots of vanilla, burnt sugar, butterscotch, and some mild black pepper; there's also brown sugar, flour, mint, cardamom, and white pepper. The only real fruit influence is in the form of sherbet, the brightness of which goes hand in hand with the tingly spirit influence, which is pretty punchy when undiluted. The mouthfeel is thick and oily, and with more time, some perfume notes and heather come forward, even wildflower honey. There's lots of wood sugar, and it's really a saccharine sweet experience overall, syrupy and slightly grainy. We finish up with creme brulee.

Finish: Generally sweet on the finish, with a lot of those same baking and cooking notes: vanilla bean, sweet mint, brown sugar, hot honey, cinnamon, cardamom, and sugar cookies. The oak is plentiful and dry, and lends some perfume and light floral notes as well. There's mild bubblegum and some heather, and later, and interesting petrichor note. After some sweeter notes of granular sugar and pear, there is a tart fruity side, with lemon drops and hot peach jam; it's a medium-long finish, quite warm.

Final Note: Pretty tasty, with plenty of flavors to keep you busy. Leans heavily into the baking notes, as the name might suggest.

Our Average Rating: 7.6 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 5.93