Old Pulteney 1983 Cask #929

This official Old Pulteney single malt, a 20 year old from 1983, drawn from cask 929 and bottled at 58.4%. Pulteney, dating to 1826 in the herring port of Wick on the Caithness coast, Inver House has run it as a flagship malt since 1995. Water comes from Loch Hempriggs, carried by a lade Thomas Telford laid in 1807.

Distilled in Pulteney's distinctively shaped copper stills on soft Loch Hempriggs water, the make was then aged beside the North Sea for that maritime edge. An Oloroso butt held it, sherry meeting the sea salt. Long ageing brings an oily depth, dried fruit and a mellow coastal salt. Refill oak holds back its sweetness, letting the distillery's coastal character lead. The cool, damp Caithness air gives a slow and even maturation. Closed when Wick went dry in 1930, the distillery did not run again until 1951.

At 58.4%, undiluted, it is bold and waxy. The Oloroso brings salted dried fruit, fig and walnut, and the refill oak lending a light vanilla, with honeyed wax and a saline lift. The texture is oily and coating, the salt threaded through. The finish is deep, oily and maritime. This is a coastal Highland malt from the edge of the country.