Old Pulteney 12 Year Old

Bottle bought on a shopping trip to Sweden, this was one of few whisky bottles with a significantly lower price than in Norway. As is, £19 is a large enough 'discount' to grab a bottle every time you're in Sweden.

The distillery is located in the coastal city of Wick, in the far north part of Scotland. The bottle promises a robust and delicate whisky with a hint of sea air.

Nose: Honey, quite a bit of sweetness, I found the whisky to be quite fruity, with some oak influence. The salt in Old Pulteney is fairly balanced against the other aromas, and nothing seems to be out of place. There is no smoke to be found in this one.

Palate: Once again with the honey, followed by mellow notes of citrus. Salt, they do not exaggerate when they claim this has a hint of sea air, but Old Pulteney is nothing like those bottles of brine that I've tried before. All of this is followed by salted caramel and a nice, clear malt tones. Overall, I find Old Pulteney 12 YO to be somewhat sharp and spicy, and perhaps this is where the aforementioned robustness hails from. The spice and heat in this, while nowhere near as potent, reminds me of what I got from a rye whiskey. This certainly adds a bit to the claimed robustness of the whisky.

Finish: Medium length, the malt is taking the center stage, along with a hint of oak. Salt and malt is gradually becoming the main flavours here, with the sweet notes slowly fading away.

Comment: If this was cheaper in Norway, it'd probably rank as my go-to dram. Old Pulteney got salt, sweetness and loads of character and features I've not yet found in other malts. At the same time, they add E150 and use chill filtering, which is completely unnecessary. That said, this is a lovely whisky – I just wish they would up the percentage.

I really enjoy this, but at the same time, I keep thinking "what if this was bottled at 46%?"

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