Old Pulteney 1969 (LMDW)

Bottled by La Maison du Whisky, this Old Pulteney from 1969, drawn from cask 4195 and bottled at 56.2%. Set in the fishing town of Wick, Caithness, Pulteney has distilled since 1826. 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. Maturation in Oloroso sherry laid salted dried fruit over the coastal spirit. Carrying no age, it leans on a settled, waxy sweetness and a saline lift. The slow loss of the angel's share concentrates the honeyed, waxy core over time. Wick's herring fleet once numbered in the thousands at the height of the boom. Slow distillation in the squat stills builds the malt's rounded, waxy body. The cool maritime climate is as much a part of the whisky as the cask.

At a natural 56.2% it is full and oily. The Oloroso brings salted dried fruit, fig and walnut, and brine and a honeyed wax sit alongside a touch of oak sweetness underneath. A crisp apple and a sea salt edge lift it. The close is slow, brine over soft wax. This is the seaside style that made the distillery's name.