Sutherland (Clynelish) 8 Year Old Batch 002 Thompson Bros. (70cl, 48%)

Sutherland Batch 002 is an 8-year-old Clynelish single malt, put together by Thompson Bros. from several casks whose contents were married. It is bottled at 48% in a 70cl bottle, without chill-filtration or added colour, and the batch runs to 2,187 bottles. Clynelish stands on the coast near Brora in the Sutherland region, and Thompson Bros. work from nearby Dornoch. The bottling shows the waxy texture, light fruit and maritime minerality of the distillery. The nose has maritime notes beside lemon, grapefruit and lime, then marzipan, caramel, barley, ripe pineapple, Galia melon and beeswax. The palate is full, oily and waxy, with citrus, spicy honey, green olives and vanilla cream. The finish is long and buttery, with citrus oil, honey, salted caramel and roasted barley.