Reddit reviews Whiskey Opus

Introductory Comments

Clynelish is a distillery that is beloved by many malt whisky connoisseurs, especially those who delight in criticizing the modern scotch whisky industry for a homogenization of distillery character and a heavy reliance on wood to impart flavor to the whisky. The Clynelish distillate offers a diverse and unique set of aromas and flavors that allows it to shine on its own, but at the same time it is subtle enough that its best qualities can be drowned out by an overly assertive cask. This means that virtually any bottling of Clynelish acts as an ideal canvas on which a whisky reviewer can paint his criticism of contemporary malt whisky: If it's aged in a refill cask for many years, then the resulting product is an example of how great malt whisky can be when a characterful distillate is allowed to mature without the wood getting in the way, but if it's a first-fill sherry cask maturation, then it becomes an example of how heavy-handed wood can detract from what could be a fine whisky.

But what is it about Clynelish that is responsible for its signature waxy, fruity, and mineral style? If you examine the materials and methods utilized by a distillery for producing whisky, you can start to understand some of what contributes to their distillery character. And that is the case even for a distillery as enigmatic as Clynelish. So before I get to my review, first let's take a look at some of the salient aspects of how Clynelish produces whisky. Along the way I have included numerous references from more authoritative sources; I am by no means an expert, so I encourage you to read about this for yourself and to point out any errors or important things I may have missed.

Fermentation at Clynelish

We'll start with fermentation, one of the most overlooked aspects of scotch whisky production, as Dave Broom discussed in this 2016 article about the fermentation process and the varying degrees to which the bourbon and scotch industries emphasize its importance. But Clynelish is a distillery that does place a huge emphasis on fermentation; in Ernst Scheiner's 2011 tour, operations manager Jim Casey is quoted as saying, "The key characteristic of the whisky is the fermentation process."

While many scotch whisky distilleries use fermentation times of roughly 48 to 55 hours, Clynelish carries out much longer fermentations. According to several people who have toured the distillery, including Scheiner, Tristan Stephenson, and Billy Abbott, their typical fermentation time is 80 hours. This is important because after 50 hours, processes can occur that produce additional flavor compounds, especially when lactic acid bacteria are present in the washbacks. Many distilleries use stainless steel washbacks that are regularly cleaned, which staves off these bacteria, but Clynelish uses wooden washbacks that aren't cleaned so thoroughly. Here is how Casey explained it to Thijs Klaverstijn in his 2018 tour:

> “We don’t clean everything spotless after every fermentation”, Casey explained. “For example, we clean our washbacks every three weeks with steam for 5 to 8 minutes. At other distilleries they might do it every week, and they might steam for a longer time as well. We also use just warm water to clean our pipes. We’re always looking for a middle-ground. It is important that our wash doesn’t catch an infection, but we do need some desired bacteria to get our desirable flavour profile.”

For more information on how extended fermentations impact whisky flavor, I recommend this post by /u/CocktailChemist and the references therein. But the key takeaway here is that Clynelish's long fermentations in only moderately-clean wooden washbacks are responsible for a variety of aroma and flavour compounds that are not typically produced in shorter fermentations.

Distillation at Clynelish

Now let's move on to the distillation process, where Clynelish further distinguishes itself from the rest of the industry in a few different ways. Quoting from Abbott's tour:

> The distillation stage is the first point where you start to detect Clynelish’s distinctive waxy notes, an aroma that has a variety of stories around it. The way they tell it on the tour is that they have a greasy residue that builds up in the various receiving tanks and that on the few occasions they have cleaned it all away the waxiness has disappeared. These days they still do a bit of cleaning, but make sure they leave a bit of the goo behind to keep the signature flavour.

What is responsible for the greasy residue? In Whisky Opus, Diageo process development manager Douglas Murray is quoted as saying:

> “In most distilleries there is one combined vessel for low wines and feints and foreshots, but Clynelish has a separate low wines receiver and a foreshots and feints tank. The low wines from the wash still are pumped into the low wines receiver, and from there into the spirit still via the spirit still charger. The foreshots and feints from the spirit still are collected in a receiver and then briefly added to the low wines in the spirit still charger.

> Because of the comparatively long time the liquid sits in the low wines and foreshots and feints tanks prior to being mixed to create the spirit still charge, you get a build-up of waxiness. The wash distillation is similar in technique to that required to make fruity character, but the use of the intermediate tanks ensures the low wines are converted to waxy as a result of the spirit distillation."

In addition to having separate receivers, there is another quirky aspect to Clynelish's stills and their operation that may also be partially responsible for the residue. In a typical distillery, the wash still is larger than the spirit still. But this is not the case at Clynelish, as Stephenson explains:

> ...rather bizarrely, the spirit stills here are larger than the wash stills by a full 1,000 litres (1,057 quarts). No one knows exactly why this is, but it effectively means that two wash-still runs are required for every spirit run. The spirit stills are run quite hard (around for hours for a single run) and this results in a build-up of a black waxy substance in the feints receiver.

Modernization vs. Distillery Character

These fermentation and distillation practices make for an excellent case study of modernization in the scotch whisky industry, and how there is often times a trade-off between efficiency and distillery character. For example, longer fermentation times can give more flavor compounds, but after about 50 hours, much less alcohol is extracted from the wash. So the distillery has to make a decision: More throughput? Or more complexity? It's hard to have both.

Diageo is to be commended for allowing Clynelish to maintain its unique character by not moving to shorter fermentation times and more traditional still and receiver designs. But still, the lurch of modernization is not to be stopped, and recently Clynelish underwent a significant revamp, as Klaverstijn discussed in his tour:

> The distillery was closed for a long time (I believe around ten months), during which production completely halted. It re-opened in May 2017, and at first sight not much has changed. Appearances can be deceiving though, as Clynelish underwent a comprehensive transformation. The keyword is modernization.

> Some of the changes are very obvious. The three spirit stills where replaced by three shiny, exact copies. About half of the washbacks were replaced too, while the other half will be replaced in the nearby future. The most important change however: Clynelish is now completely run by computers. “We enter paramaters in the computer, and it basically does the work for us”, said [Casey]. “We’re still toying with the right input, but eventually we’ll settle on a uniform approach.”

But the distillery is working to maintain its style even as it enters this brave new world:

> Therefore, keeping Clynelish waxy wasn’t just an important matter for fans, it was also a concern for Casey and his colleagues. And rightfully so. Immediately after the re-opening, the waxy character had completely disappeared. It took about five to six months before the waxiness started to reappear in the new make spirit. At the time of my visit in November, Casey was still working on achieving a higher degree of waxiness.

Summarizing What Sets Clynelish Apart

The waxy, fruity character that sets Clynelish apart from other single malts is due in large part to the following quirky and uncommon aspects of their production methods:

• Long fermentation times of roughly 80 hours compared to the industry standard of roughly 50 hours
  
• Wooden washbacks that aren't cleaned well, which promotes lactic acid bacteria, and receiving tanks that aren't cleaned well, which maintains a buildup of residue that accumulates over time and contributes to waxiness
  
• Larger spirit stills than wash stills, and separate receiving tanks, and the impact this has on how they run the distillations
  
  Due to the recent upgrades, a decade from now we may look back on 2016/2017 as being a turning point for Clynelish, much like the stainless steel era for Fettercairn from 1995 to 2009 or Benrinnes' departure from partial triple distillation in 2007. Will they be able to maintain those defining fruity and waxy notes after upgrading to a more modern production style? Only time will tell.

I have the Whiskey Opus. Got it as a gift last year, but it's a really good book with lots of information and beautiful pictures. No reviews or scoring or anything like that though, but it does have some tasting notes, and lots of background info on distilleries all over the world and on whisky itself.