Old Pulteney 2008 (Signatory)

Single malt Old Pulteney, an independent Signatory Vintage bottling matured to 15 year old, from 2008, drawn from cask 3 and bottled at 56.2%. A release of 639 bottles. Opened in 1826 beside the harbour at Wick in the far north, Pulteney is the maritime malt of the far north. Inver House has made it the centrepiece of its single malt range since 1995.

The spirit was made in copper stills of singular shape, fed by soft northern water, and matured on the Caithness coast for a salty lift. An Oloroso butt held it, sherry meeting the sea salt. Past a decade the honey and wax build, knitting with the coastal salt. Refill oak holds back its sweetness, letting the distillery's coastal character lead. The spirit carries an oily weight unusual among Highland malts. Wick's herring fleet once numbered in the thousands at the height of the boom.

At cask strength 56.2% it is muscular and oily. The Oloroso brings salted dried fruit, fig and walnut, and vanilla and a little cream from the barrel runs under sea air, citrus and salt. Beneath it run honey, citrus and a waxy weight. A waxy, coastal finish lingers long. This is a far northern malt shaped by sea air.