Old Pulteney 21 Years Old

A distillery bottling of Old Pulteney matured to 21 year old, and bottled at 46%. Opened in 1826 beside the harbour at Wick in the far north, Pulteney is the maritime malt of the far north. For years it was the most northerly distillery on the Scottish mainland.

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. At this age it is polished and waxy, the sea salt folded into a rich, honeyed body. Long, cool ageing builds the oily texture Pulteney is known for. 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 an approachable 46% it is balanced. The Oloroso brings salted dried fruit, fig and walnut, and vanilla and a little cream from the barrel runs under salt spray and beeswax. A beeswax and a saline tang give it real body. The finish runs oily, saline and warm. This is a briny, oily dram from the North Sea coast.