Old Pulteney 2008 (Signatory)

From Signatory Vintage comes this Old Pulteney, a 16 year old coastal malt, from 2008, drawn from cask 12 and bottled at 56.4%. Only 662 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. Old Pulteney is known the world over as the Maritime Malt.

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. Maturation in Oloroso sherry laid salted dried fruit over the coastal spirit. Mid age brings a fuller honey and a deeper maritime note. Maturation by the sea is central to the house style, the brine settling into the malt. A faint salinity threads the honey, the mark of long coastal maturation. Sir William Pulteney gave his name to the planned town that grew around the harbour.

Undiluted at 56.4%, it is concentrated. The Oloroso brings salted dried fruit, fig and walnut, and a salty maritime note sit alongside a touch of oak sweetness underneath. It is rounded and deep, the maritime note woven in. The finish runs oily, saline and warm. This is the seaside style that made the distillery's name.