Old Pulteney 1993 TWT (The Whisky Talker)

An Old Pulteney single malt, selected and bottled by The Whisky Talker, a 12 year old from 1993, drawn from cask DL 2079 and bottled at 46%. The outturn was 365 bottles. Pulteney, first licensed in 1826 in Pulteneytown on Scotland's far northern shore, it has been the maritime malt of Caithness ever since. It is one of the last urban distilleries, set among the streets of Pulteneytown.

The spirit was drawn off the flat topped wash still and boil ball spirit still that give the make its body, and matured by the shore, where sea air works into the wood. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, gentle American oak beneath the brine. Past a decade the honey and wax build, knitting with the coastal salt. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the honeyed, waxy core over time. 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.

At an easy 46% it is gentle. Sea salt and a coastal tang meet soft vanilla from the cask. The mouthfeel is oily, the honey carried on a waxy body. Sea salt and honey see out a long finish. This is Old Pulteney's classic maritime character.