Old Pulteney WK 209 Good Hope

This Old Pulteney, an official release, and bottled at 46%. 9600 bottles in all. Set by James Henderson in Pulteneytown, Wick, Pulteney has distilled since 1826. Wick was once the herring capital, its fortunes built on silver fish and golden whisky.

It was worked through Pulteney's boil ball stills, fed by Loch Hempriggs, before long maturation by the sea drew in its coastal character. An Oloroso sherry cask wrapped the malt in dried fruit and a nutty depth. Carrying no age, it leans on a settled, waxy sweetness and a saline lift. Maturation by the sea is central to the house style, the brine settling into the malt. Sir William Pulteney gave his name to the planned town that grew around the harbour. 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. Slow distillation in the squat stills builds the malt's rounded, waxy body.

At 46% it is clean and maritime. The Oloroso brings salted dried fruit, fig and walnut, and sea air, citrus and salt meet light vanilla from the refill oak. Beneath it run honey, citrus and a waxy weight. The close is slow, brine over soft wax. This is the maritime malt of Scotland's far north.