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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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June 26, 2026 |
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WF's Little Duos: today, some
excellent indie Pulteney |
Thanks to Pulteney, it’s well worth continuing north beyond Brora and Clynelish along the east coast. Personally, I love the wonderfully old-fashioned atmosphere of Wick, the only place where you can still listen to Bonnie Tyler or Kim Carnes on a jukebox while sipping a Mackeson Stout. Or an Old Pulteney, of course… Or Miss You by the Stones, that track we all hated at the time. Today, then, we’ll be tasting two independent bottlings. Let’s start with the younger one… |
Old Pulteney, delightfully unchanged over
the years. We love it. (Old Pulteney) |
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Pulteney 12 yo 2013/2006 (55.1%, Single Cask Nation, bourbon barrel, cask # 180903, 220 bottles) 
It is a bit like Fettercairn, one never quite knows when one should or should not add ‘Old’ before the name. If you have any tips, do let me know... Colour: white wine. Nose: I have occasionally found that these young ex-bourbon or refill Pulteneys possess a faintly east-coast Bruichladdich character, with that saline melon note, even saltier here, although there is also a very pronounced chalky minerality. Chalk, tuffeau stone, flint... Quite rustic without water, but the latter should sort that out. With water: vanilla emerges, accompanied by ripe apples, acacia honey and a little gum arabic. Almond milk as well. Mouth (neat): hugely powerful, intensely salty and briny, almost violent in its unpeated coastalness. With water: it retains a certain sharpness and plenty of vitality, without drifting towards lemon. Distinct notes of seawater appear (a trade secret, perhaps?). Finish: very long, very salty and mineral, I could swear I have just swallowed a small oyster without any warning whatsoever. Comments: a Pulteney more Pulteney than Pulteney itself, almost extreme. No half measures here, naturally, and we love it. Ah, Kim Carnes...
SGP:362 - 87 points. |
Come on then, a sherried cousin next… |
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Old Pulteney 19 yo 2006/2025 (50.2%, Malts of Scotland for HNWS Taiwan 20th Anniversary, sherry hogshead, cask #MoS25029, 206 bottles) 
It is said to be very good indeed, but let us judge for ourselves, if you please. Colour: amber. Nose: plenty of shoe polish at first, leaving us wondering where exactly it came from, followed by a large sack of walnuts, and there we do know where it came from, do we not. In the end, we are faced with a magnificent bone-dry sherry profile, almost akin to a manzanilla en rama. All we would need now is a large pile of langostinos served on the banks of the Guadalquivir. With water: a humidor packed to the brim with puros. Quite a lot of cedarwood too, naturally. Mouth (neat): still that superbly dry sherry, with scarcely more than a drop of walnut liqueur to soften and balance the whole. There is also the classic mustard-and-tobacco duo that so often accompanies this style. A little ash as well. With water: we have got it, we have tamed it! Well, almost. The salinity is now every bit as massive as in the 2013, just imagine the combined effect of Pulteney plus fino (or manzanilla, amontillado...) Finish: much the same. So, are those langostinos arriving anytime soon? The aftertaste becomes rather more peppery. Comments: another fairly spectacular Pulteney. As we used to say when we first started whisky blogging, around 1950 (indeed, S., indeed), neither of these takes any prisoners.
SGP:362 - 89 points. |
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