Old Pulteney 2007 Cask #1475

This official Old Pulteney single malt, a 15 year old from 2007, drawn from cask 1475 and bottled at 62.3%. Pulteney, first licensed in 1826 in Pulteneytown on Scotland's far northern shore, it has been the maritime malt of Caithness ever since. The distillery closed in 1930 when Wick went dry, and reopened only in 1951.

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. It was matured in refill ex-Bourbon oak, the backbone of the Pulteney style. Past a decade the honey and wax build, knitting with the coastal salt. Years in the cask round the spirit, the wax and honey deepening with age. The water runs from Loch Hempriggs along a lade Thomas Telford laid in 1807. Pulteney's stills are unlike any other, the wash still topped flat where the neck was cut. The cool, damp Caithness air gives a slow and even maturation.

At a hearty 62.3% it carries real weight. A briny, oily edge sit alongside soft vanilla from the cask. It is clean and bright, the coastal salt lifting the honey. A waxy, coastal finish lingers long. This is the salty, honeyed signature of Wick.