Old Pulteney 12 Years Old

This official Old Pulteney single malt at 12 year old, and bottled at 40%. Old Pulteney was established in 1826 in the fishing town of Wick, Caithness; it still distils beside the sea at Wick. Wick was once the herring capital, its fortunes built on silver fish and golden whisky.

Distilled on Loch Hempriggs water in stills whose shape has not changed since the 1820s, the make was then laid down by the sea for its briny, honeyed style. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, the backbone of the Pulteney style. Past a decade the honey and wax build, knitting with the coastal salt. Coastal warehousing gives the malt its signature salty, maritime lift. Everything once moved by sea here, barley in and casks out across the North Sea. The water runs from Loch Hempriggs along a lade Thomas Telford laid in 1807. Pulteney's stills are unlike any other, the wash still topped flat where the neck was cut. The cool, damp Caithness air gives a slow and even maturation.

At 40% it is smooth and honeyed. Sea air, citrus and salt meet a touch of oak sweetness underneath. Beneath it run honey, citrus and a waxy weight. Salt, honey and oak draw out the close. This is the maritime malt of Scotland's far north.