I’m quite thrilled that Diageo will ‘do something’ with the old Clynelish/Brora distillery across the road from the ‘new’ one. It will take a while no doubt but thankfully there are still plenty examples of its sibling to keep us occupied in the mean time. And who could complain about that?

Clynelish 1996/2013 (46%, Gordon & MacPhail, Connoisseur’s Choice) 1996 is a slightly ‘trickier’ vintage than the ubiquitous 1997s in my opinion. Although plenty are still fab. Colour: Light gold. Nose: It’s a slightly more austere one at first approach. There’s a rather brittle mineralic aspect with damp hay, soot and coal dust but this quickly moves into fairly classical and very pleasing territories such as soft waxes, beach pebbles, bay leaf and a little wet earth. Little bunches of white flowers and linen. Somewhat straight forward but relatively uncompromising in style. Mouth: A nice assortment of waxes, white pepper, a little green fruit, some camphor, gooseberry jam, pine resin, gorse. It’s not the most sensational Clynelish but it is loyal and exemplary of the distillery character. Would be a perfect alternative to the official 14 year old. Perhaps some cold tea, sorrel and olive oil after a while. Finish: Medium with a nicely sooty, lemony and waxy aftertaste. Comments: A solid and fairly emblematic Clynelish. Just a little simple maybe. One for casual quaffing or the hip flask. SGP: 462 - 84 points.

Clynelish 21 yo 1983/2004 (56.9%, Dun Bheagan, hogsheads, casks #2552-2553, 516 bottles) Serge tasted a 19 year old, sibling bottling to this one back in 2005 and found it quite disappointing (WF:70). Let’s see if it was an unfortunate fluke. Most 83s are fab... Colour: White wine. Nose: Ahh! We’re safe! This is a wonderfully harmonious mix of white fruits, waxes, oils, herbs, coastal and farmyard qualities. There is a shared DNA with the 1996 but this is just fatter, richer and globally more pronounced. With a little time a buttery, Riesling-esque petroleum note emerges. Goes on with little touches of dried mint, wild strawberry, a lick of tar, granny smith apples, sunflower oil, creel nets and bergamot. Some tiny suggestions of various medical tinctures, cotton wool, tool sheds and camphor. Big, classical and braw! With water: develops these wonderful notes of meadowsweet, buttercup and lime cordial. Wax jackets and gorse flowers. Mouth: A big, glistening and slightly medicinal waxiness. Full of herbs, wild flowers, pastry, dried seaweed, minerals and sandalwood. Becomes in turn peppery, grassy and oily with further various waxy and farmyard complexities. Old workshops and motor oil. A lick of paraffin and some aged Gewurztraminer. With water: perfect! A blend of aged Riesling, assorted waxes, furniture polish, Turkish delight, some Moroccan spices and a breezy, seashore minerality. Finish: Long! Full of white pepper, earl grey tea, lemon peel, buttered toast and dried herbs. Comments: These early 80s Clynelish really had something special about them. Almost a resurgence of the early 70s characteristics in some ways. This one was fab! SGP: 362 - 91 points.

Time for some Ardbeg. We’ll try three different ones from the 1990s, 70s and 60s today. But first, a wee aperitif from the 2010s (I’m assuming), but a quick one because I know Serge published notes for this one quite recently...

Ardbeg ‘An Oa’ (46.6%, OB, 2017) The latest release in Ardbeg’s storytime series...Colour: Chardonnay. Nose: Quite a pleasant nose at first. All on soot, kelp, light waxes, machine oils and various medical notes. Some Ardbeggy tarriness as well. Lemony, coastal, some rope, some smoked mussels in brine. A chunk of sawdust squirms its way to the surface but otherwise solid. Mouth: Good texture. Full of lemon oils, peat smoke, beeswax and some nice camphory aspects. Reminiscent of some good mid-1990s casks actually. More brine and a little wood ash and some new American oak. Finish: Medium length, probably quite a young whisky, but a well disguised one at that. Citrus rind with kippers and peat oils. A little flourish of tar towards the end. Comments: It’s better than a number of the other silly story name releases in recent years if you ask me. Ardbug, or Zipwire, or Black Hole, or Perpendicular or whatever they were called... Anyway, this is perfectly tasty juice that actually tastes like Ardbeg, and I think the strength works nicely. SGP: 456 - 85 points.

Ardbeg 10 yo 1998/2008 (57.4%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society, #33.69, ‘Smoked fish and black leather’) I think the SMWS and Blue Peter must have the same gardener (Serge, if you don’t get that joke it’s only because you didn’t grow up watching children’s TV in Britain in the 1990s). Colour: Straw. Nose: This is creamier and fatter but also drier and leaner. A more pristine and razor edged coastal style. A cup of mint tea with a slice of lemon then cigar ash and wild garlic curiously enough. Some shellfish notes such as oysters and whelks. Otherwise a little tight. With water: Lemon, brine, capers and damp coal hearths. Mouth: Weighty and ashy at first with notes of fresh lemon and lime, parsley and a jagged minerality. White pepper gives it quite some heat. With water: becomes earthier and the peat takes on a deep, bass-like quality. Some mustard seed and olive oil, a little vinaigrette perhaps. Grows smokier and ashier with time. Finish: Long, dry, coastal and with more gristy peat smoke and lemon notes. Comments: It’s great distillate, although I think these latter vintages lost something of the classy medical / tarry qualities of the early 1990s. Still lovely whisky though. SGP: 357 - 86 points.

Ardbeg 13 yo 1975/1988 (54.2%, Gordon & MacPhail, Special Selection, Intertrade, 543 bottles) Needless to say, expectations are high... Colour: Rosewood. Nose: Another galaxy! There is an equal pitch between the fruit of the sherry at first with these immediate notes of dates, stewed sultanas and raisins with a lacquer-like, wraparound peat quality. It’s a dense, sticky and hugely tarry nose redolent with many dried herbs, mushroom powder, wet earth, balsamico, roses and cherry cola cubes. Gets beautifully minty with time. Quite magnificent and unmistakably 1970s Ardbeg. With water: Heather, dunnage, hessian, sack cloth, mercurochrome, iodine drops... Anti-maltoporn brigade and quick about it I think! Mouth: Aargh! The most astounding purity of peat that only these kinds of Ardbegs can seem to muster. Sarsaparilla, root beer sundaes, maraschino cherries, fig rolls, medical toothpaste, some green and tropical fruits weave their way to the fore with a bit of time. With water: Some rancio, some minerals, some soot, many different manifestations of peat, various tarry aspects. You get the idea. Anti-maltoporn brigade still required. Finish: A great, booming echo of billowing peat smoke, dark, sherry drenched fruits and these winnowing drifts of kippers mid-smoking, black olives, rosemary flatbread and preserved lemons in brine. Comments: Not surprising. An old masterpiece by G&M. What else is there to say really? SGP: 658 - 94 points.

Ardbeg 28 yo 1967/1995 (53.7%, Signatory Vintage, Pale Oloroso butt, cask #575, 548 bottles) This bottle was being poured at the Whisky Show in London last weekend. On the stand promoting the Whisky Show Old & Rare in Glasgow next February, in case you’re interested... (is that against the rules Serge?) Colour: Deep gold. Nose: Equally majestic as the 1975 but totally different again. This is a forest of resins, precious hardwoods, ferns, bracken, moss and then honeycomb, blossoms, medical tinctures, natural tar, gentian root,  aged mead... the list could go on a long time. Sublime complexity and elegance. The peat has morphed into the most staggering mix of herbal and citrus liqueurs, delicate farmyard and mechanical aspects with qualities such as bergamot and a fragrant quince jelly note in the background. With time goes more towards coastal notes as well. Motor oil, crushed sea salt, grilled langoustines. A poem. With water: a subtle but perceptible elevation in beauty. A single drop just seems to make everything a little sharper and sing a little more exquisitely. Mouth: The peat is louder here but also deep and outrageously silky. A velvety sheen of gorse, wildflowers, ointment, orange peel, earth, smoked oats and mint jelly. With water: disgracefully beautiful! I think probably best not to go on from here... Finish: Endless. A cavern of earthy and bubbling peats, farmyard and seashore notes alongside more classical Ardbeg hallmarks such as natural tar, old rope and dried seaweed. Comments: It’s easy to balk at the prices paid for these bottles now but when you taste them again you understand: these bottlings were liquid art in many ways. Beautiful; haunting; unrepeatable; infuriating; emotional. SGP: 656 - 96 points.

Laphroaig 31 yo 1966/1997 (49.3%, Signatory Vintage, cask #1094, 210 bottles) One of a number of utter legendary Laphroaigs by Signatory. Colour: Light gold. Nose: This is the sort of whisky that comes out to meet you half way to the glass. The fruit is kind of overspilling the rim of the glass. A library of tropical fruits: papaya, banana, mango, passion fruit, pineapple. But then also these myriad coastal aspects such as sandalwood, beach foam, seaweed, salt. Then gentle peat smoke, resins, ointments, old medicine cabinets, long aged yellow chartreuse. Another nose that you could write a book about. (but we won’t you’ll be pleased to hear) With water: goes a little more towards citrus. But that’s all I’ll write because the rest would be gratuitous. Mouth: What can you say about this kind of whisky. It stops you in your tracks. A perfect concentration of fruits, seashore, simmering and undulating peats and a drifting farmyard aspect in the background. With water: further gratuity! Finish: Kind of heartbreakingly beautiful. A long waltz into the night with someone you love but will never see again once its over. (I know, get a grip Angus!) Comments: Nothing to say really. Maybe one point less than the Ardbeg but we’re splitting hairs. New distillers should try to taste these kinds of whiskies for inspiration I think. SGP: 556 - 95 points.