Old Pulteney 2006 Cask #1449

An official Old Pulteney single malt, a 16 year old from 2006, drawn from cask 1449 and bottled at 54%. The outturn was 264 bottles. Pulteney, founded in 1826 at Wick, on the windswept northeast coast, Inver House has run it as a flagship malt since 1995. Robert Cumming brought the distillery back to life in 1951 after two decades silent.

It was run through the unusual stills, the wash still topped flat where the swan neck was cut, before resting in warehouses within sight of the harbour. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, lending honey and vanilla under the salt. Past a decade the honey and wax build, knitting with the coastal salt. Sea air works through the warehouse, lending a saline thread as the whisky breathes by the shore. Old Pulteney is matured within sight of the harbour that gave Wick its name. The far north cold draws a clean, bright spirit and a slow take on the oak. Casks rest within sight of the harbour that once shipped herring across Europe.

At a full 54% it is intense. A gentle vanilla and coconut from the wood, with sea salt and a coastal tang. The mouthfeel is oily, the honey carried on a waxy body. The finish is deep, oily and maritime. This is a honeyed coastal malt from Caithness.