Old Pulteney 2006 (Authentic Collection)

This is an Old Pulteney single malt, chosen and bottled by Cadenhead's, a 13 year old coastal malt, from 2006 and bottled at 54.7%. A release of 306 bottles. Pulteney was founded in 1826 beside the harbour at Wick in the far north, and it has distilled by the North Sea for two centuries. For years it was the most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland.

The spirit was made in copper stills of singular shape, fed by soft northern water, and matured on the Caithness coast for a salty lift. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, lending honey and vanilla under the salt. Mid age brings a fuller honey and a deeper maritime note. Long, cool ageing builds the oily texture Pulteney is known for. The distillery has worn the title of the Maritime Malt for good reason. Wick built its fortune on herring and whisky, the silver and the gold of the north. Everything once moved by sea here, barley in and casks out across the North Sea.

At a hearty 54.7% it carries real weight. Vanilla and a little cream from the barrel runs under salt spray and beeswax. A beeswax and a saline tang give it real body. A long, honeyed finish carries a saline tang. This is a briny, oily dram from the North Sea coast.