Old Pulteney 2008

A distillery bottling of Old Pulteney, aged 10 year old, from 2008 and bottled at 46%. Old Pulteney was opened in 1826 at Wick, on the windswept northeast coast; it stands among Scotland's most northerly distilleries. For years it was the most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland.

It was run through the unusual stills, the wash still topped flat where the swan neck was cut, before resting in warehouses within sight of the harbour. Ex-Bourbon casks held the spirit, soft oak that lets the coastal character lead. Still young, the malt is clean and zesty with a saline tang. The northern cold draws out a slow, even maturation and a clean, bright spirit. Closed when Wick went dry in 1930, the distillery did not run again until 1951. Sea air works into the warehouses, a saline thread that marks the house style. For decades this was the most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland.

At 46% it is supple and honeyed. A gentle vanilla and coconut from the wood runs under salt spray and beeswax. A beeswax and a saline tang give it real body. Sea salt and honey see out a long finish. This is a briny, oily dram from the North Sea coast.