Clynelish 1999 Elixir Distillers 21 Year Old / TWE & The Mash Tun

Originally known as Speciality Drinks, Elixir Distillers was established in 1999 as the independent bottling arm of The Whisky Exchange, which launched its online retail site the same year. Their first bottlings were under the Single Malts of Scotland label in 2005, followed by the Elements of Islay range and Port Askaig single malt brand in 2006 and 2009, respectively. The company was renamed Elixir Distillers as of 2017.

This Clynelish was bottled for The Whisky Exchange in London and The Mash Tun in Tokyo to celebrate 21 year of friendship between Sukhinder Singh and Toru Suzuki. A 1999 vintage, it was drawn from a single sherry butt in 2020.

Clynelish distillery as it is recognised today, was built in 1967 to replace the smaller distillery next-door, which was the original site of that name. The first distillery was closed, but later re-opened, changing its name to Brora (but that’s another story). Clynelish is part of the Diageo stable, having been taken over by DCL in 1912. Despite being an important part of the Johnnie Walker blends, it has long been bottled as a single malt.