Old Pulteney 2008 Dmor (Dràm Mòr)

Dràm Mòr selected this Old Pulteney, a 17 year old coastal malt, from 2008, drawn from cask Z082 and bottled at 49.8%. Only 295 bottles were released. Pulteney was first licensed in 1826 in the fishing town of Wick, Caithness, and it remains one of the most northerly distilleries on the mainland. Wick was once the herring capital, its fortunes built on silver fish and golden whisky.

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 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. The spirit takes colour and sweetness slowly in the cool far north. 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.

Bottled at a cask strength 49.8%, it is rich. Honeyed wax and a saline lift meet a touch of oak sweetness underneath. The texture is oily and coating, the salt threaded through. The finish runs oily, saline and warm. This is the maritime malt of Scotland's far north.