Old Pulteney 1982 Rare Highland Single Malt (G&M)

Bottled by Gordon & MacPhail, this Old Pulteney at 32 year old, from 1982 and bottled at 43%. Set in the herring port of Wick on the Caithness coast, Pulteney has distilled since 1826. Water comes from Loch Hempriggs, carried by a lade Thomas Telford laid in 1807.

Distilled in Pulteney's distinctively shaped copper stills on soft Loch Hempriggs water, the make was then aged beside the North Sea for that maritime edge. Maturation came in ex-Bourbon wood, lending honey and vanilla under the salt. Very old Pulteney turns profound, oily and waxy with a mellow maritime depth. The northern cold draws out a slow, even maturation and a clean, bright spirit. The far north cold draws a clean, bright spirit and a slow take on the oak. Casks rest within sight of the harbour that once shipped herring across Europe. 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.

Reduced to 43%, it is mellow. The refill oak lending a light vanilla, with a briny, oily edge. It is clean and bright, the coastal salt lifting the honey. It closes long, salty and honeyed. This is a coastal Highland malt from the edge of the country.