Clynelish Distillery was established by Peter Mackie—the visionary behind the White Horse blend and owner of Lagavulin—in partnership with Alexander Edward to address the pressing need for additional production capacity during the late 19th-century whisky boom. Surging demand had created inventory shortages for large blending houses, making new distillery construction essential. Mackie, who operated a London sales office, was particularly troubled by competition from large grain whisky producers, dismissing their spirits as 'short-aged, cheap, and burnt-tasting.' His lifelong principle was guaranteeing product quality, firmly believing that consumers wanted aged whisky—the accumulation of years, not shortcuts.
The distillery's production features a Steinecker full-lauter mash tun installed in 2001, replacing the original open cast iron vessel. Fermentation occurs in eight larch washbacks with a combined capacity of 47,000 liters over 56-60 hours. Two pairs of stills, each equipped with traditional worm tub condensers, produce the spirit; notably, the original copper worms were upgraded to stainless steel in 2014. By 2019, the distillery could produce 3.9 million liters of new make spirit weekly from 21 mashes.
Clynelish maintained an exceptionally low profile, rarely releasing official bottlings before its 2014 brand restructuring. That year introduced three core expressions aged 13, 17, and 23 years to select retail markets. This was followed by a duty-free exclusive series featuring 19, 31, and 33-year-old whiskies—the 19 and 31-year expressions have since been discontinued, while the 33-year expanded to US retail. In early 2018, two limited duty-free releases debuted: a 24-year-old and a 17-year-old finished in Palo Cortado sherry casks. The range's pinnacle is a 51-year-old expression, uniquely released in autumn 2018 not for sale, but as a complimentary tasting experience for whisky enthusiasts at pop-up events in the UK, Australia, South Africa, and the USA, accessible only through advance registration.
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