Old Pulteney 1999 (Connoisseurs Choice)

An Old Pulteney single malt, selected and bottled by Gordon & MacPhail, a 19 year old from 1999, drawn from cask Batch 19/120 and bottled at 56.5%. The outturn was 554 bottles. Pulteney, dating to 1826 in the fishing town of Wick, Caithness, it has been the maritime malt of Caithness ever since. It is one of the last urban distilleries, set among the streets of Pulteneytown.

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. An Oloroso sherry cask wrapped the malt in dried fruit and a nutty depth. Long ageing brings an oily depth, dried fruit and a mellow coastal salt. The spirit takes colour and sweetness slowly in the cool far north. 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 full 56.5% it is intense. The Oloroso brings salted dried fruit, fig and walnut, and sea salt and a coastal tang meet a touch of oak sweetness underneath. 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.