Old Pulteney 12 Year Old
Tame but unique
0 187
Review by @WhiskyBee
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall87
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- Brand: Old Pulteney
- Type: Scotch
- Region: Highland
- ABV: 43%
These notes were adapted from a mini-review I posted in the “Old Pulteney 12 Nose Question” thread, in which Connosr member @TpR asked if anyone else got strong notes of cheese throughout the nosing and tasting experience. Pardon me for employing a bit of self-plagiarizing here, but it was hard to resist chalking up another review with copy-and-paste ease.
My bottle of OP 12 is the 375ml size, purchased in a twin pack with a 375ml OP 17, and this will be my fourth dram. I'd supply the batch number, but it's printed on the bottle, rather than the label, and four of the numbers have rubbed off.
Nose: It's different, that's for sure. Not sure if I could identify this as Scotch if I were tasting it blind. No malt, vanilla, caramel, smoke...no familiar Scotch-y aromas (and no cheese). More like cooking oil, a little wood, and, of all things, watermelon. Very, very light. But I like it.
Palate is bitter honey, pleasantly so. Doesn't seem to evolve much as it sits. No cheese yet.
As for the finish...I don't know if this is the power of suggestion, but -- dang, there's the cheese. A couple of months ago, I might have described this as "creamy and earthy," but now that I'm thinking cheese, that's what I'm getting. To be specific, I get a good cheese and broccoli soup. The kind you get at the sandwich shops, not the canned kind.
This is a whisky whose unique flavors are balanced by their tameness. It's an entry-level malt only in that it's mild and nonthreatening. On one hand, I like these flavors very much, but don't care for the softness of the whisky. On the other hand, I don't know if I'd like these flavors at cask strength.
I prefer Old Pulteney 17 yo, in that the extra five years results in a bolder and more articulate whisky, and one for which the oddball flavors now compliment a dominant and traditional malt-and-spice profile. That said, I’ll give OP 12 a respectable score, based on its uniqueness and drinkability.
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These last few reviews of OP 12 have intrigued me in a weird way. I just might buy a bottle. I am saving my 21 year that I own for a special occasion. I tasted the 17 year and wasn't impressed, but part of that had to do with the price. I've heard good things about the 12. Character goes a long way in my book, even if there are eccentric aspects to a single malt. Thanks very much for the review, WhiskyBee.
I just reviewed the Dalmore 15. I wonder if anyone would think the barnyardy eau de toilette that I detected was cheese like or broccoli soup like. I hope not. I did not like the barnyardy aspect of the Dalmore 15. I can only guess that in past years the bottlings have been better. Things seem to be going downhill.
I surmise this might be due to the good bottles going to Asia while we Westerners suffer as our currencies are woefully devalued by the same "federal reserve" type interests that are owned by rich robber barons that have heavily invested in Asian companies and governments, even while they are purposefully sabotaging economies of the West. Oceania and Eurasia are "losing" while Eastasia is "winning."
Sure . . . whatever the Squawk Box says. It must be true if newscasters tell us so. Economies are like Mother Nature: they just "happen" due to entirely fair and competitive evolution and developments supervised by banks and stock markets that operate in line with the general best interests of the citizenry. And on and on and on. . . .
Meanwhile, the best casks and bottlings of Scottish whiskies might well be heading East at our expense. Bummer. Who the heck knows? Right. Time for a drink!