Old Pulteney 2006

This official Old Pulteney single malt, aged 13 year old, from 2006 and bottled at 46%. Old Pulteney was established in 1826 in the fishing town of Wick, Caithness; it still distils beside the sea at Wick. Old Pulteney is known the world over as the Maritime Malt.

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. A refill American oak cask held it, keeping the maritime malt to the fore. By this age the waxy, honeyed core settles in over the brine. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the honeyed, waxy core over time. The make is clean and waxy, a style built over nearly two centuries by the sea. Caithness sits at the very top of mainland Scotland, exposed to the North Sea. The distillery passed through several owners before Inver House took it on. A faint salinity threads the honey, the mark of long coastal maturation.

At 46% it is clean and maritime. Brine and a honeyed wax sit alongside a touch of oak sweetness underneath. A crisp apple and a sea salt edge lift it. Salt, honey and oak draw out the close. This is the seaside style that made the distillery's name.