Old Pulteney 15 Years Old Licensed Bottling Screw cap (G&M)

Gordon & MacPhail selected this Old Pulteney, aged 15 year old, and bottled at 40%. Old Pulteney was opened in 1826 by James Henderson in Pulteneytown, Wick; it still distils beside the sea at Wick. Wick was once the herring capital, its fortunes built on silver fish and golden whisky.

It was worked through Pulteney's boil ball stills, fed by Loch Hempriggs, before long maturation by the sea drew in its coastal character. An ex-Bourbon barrel shaped it, gentle American oak beneath the brine. Around twelve to fifteen years the malt rounds into honey, citrus and sea air. Years in the cask round the spirit, the wax and honey deepening with age. Inver House has built its single malt range around the distillery since 1995. The honeyed, waxy core is the signature of the maritime malt of the far north. Robert Cumming reopened the silent distillery in 1951 as demand for whisky returned. Old Pulteney is matured within sight of the harbour that gave Wick its name.

At 40% it is soft, waxy and coastal. Honeyed wax and a saline lift meet light vanilla from the refill oak. The texture is oily and coating, the salt threaded through. A gently briny finish lingers warm. This is the maritime malt of Scotland's far north.