Old Pulteney Harbour review
Welcome back Ladies & Gents. It's been sometime. I'll be blunt, it was extremely hot here in Hungary (35-36C°) this past week and I didn't really feel like drinking whisky. I had a few Gin & Tonic with my girlfriend and occasionally a Cuba Libre (Rum & Coke). These cocktails were just so refreshing. I know I know, there are whisky cocktails but I really don't like to mix my whisky. I like it neat. I am not a huge fan of any whisky based cocktails. But that's just me. Let me know what cocktails you prefer on a hot summer day.
I got a very interesting bottle. Interesting, why? I have never seen this bottle before and it was not available on Whiskybase.com either, which is strange. I found a few reviews dated 4 months back, so this bottle is out for quite sometime. Strange that noone uploaded it. Well I did. Now you can find it on Whiskybase. We touched Whiskybase now, so I can't go on without mentioning that the site for me and for a couple of friends is extremely slow and sometimes it won't load at all. No idea what is going on with the chaps and Whiskybase but please please please. Fix it. Thank you. The whisky we take a look at today is the Old Pulteney Harbour. Let's get right into it.
About the Distillery
Old Pulteney distillery is a malt whisky production and aging facility in the Pulteneytown area of Wick, Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland. The distillery produces the Old Pulteney single malt whisky at a number of ages and has a visitor centre in Huddart Street.
The distillery was established in 1826 in the name of Sir William Pulteney (who died in 1805), and after whom Pulteneytown is named. The distillery was the most northerly on the Scottish mainland (the honour has been usurped by Wolfburn Distillery near Thurso) and was quite inaccessible, except by sea, when established. The barley at that time was transported to Wick by ship and that was the way the whisky barrels shipped out too. Many of the distillery workers were also employed as fishermen. Herring fishing was booming and people got to know Wick as the town of silver and gold – herring and Whisky! The herring fishing industry is no longer part of daily life in Wick but the distillery continues to operate, producing a Highland single malt with a reputation as one of the finest available. Characteristics of the whisky are attributed to exposure to sea air during maturation.
James Watson bought Pulteney in 1920 until Buchanan-Dewar took over. Wick had become a "dry" town and whisky producing was not very popular at that time. Two years later they already sold it to Distillers Company Ltd. The distillery closed in 1930 due to declining trade after the local parish enforced prohibition laws but re-opened in 1951 when the vote was rescinded after the law was abolished. Robert Cumming brought it back to life in 1951. Hiram Walker took over in 1955 and started renovations and expansions the following years. At that time Pulteney produced mainly for blends as Ballentine's and survived the whisky crisis in the 1980s. In 1995 the distillery was bought by Inverhouse Distillers who still are the owner and have made Old Pulteney one of the most famous Single Malts of the Highlands.
In 2001, when Inverhouse was bought by Pacific Spirits for $85 million, the ownership of Pulteney changed again. Pacific Spirits continued to expand the quantity of Pulteney bottlings. In 2004, an official 17-year-old bottling was released, followed by a 21-year-old in 2005. In 2006, International Beverage Holders, who still own the distillery, bought Pacific Spirits.
Production as well as maturation of Old Pulteney whisky takes place in Wick. Like just a few other distilleries in Scotland (e.g. Oban and Glen Garioch) the Pulteney Distillery is not situated in the outer region of the town but embedded in a close neighborhood of other business buildings and shop. Production capacity of Pulteney is about 2.000.000 liters.
The pot stills of Pulteney look very unique with their massive bulbs. There's one spirit still and one wash still, standing close to each other. The top of the wash still is flat and the tour guides use to tell a nice story that they had to cut it because when they ordered it they hadn't realized the correct height of the roof. The shape of the Pulteney bottles refers to the shape of the stills.
The pot stills have large reflux bowls, so there is a lot of copper contact during distillation. This leads to the expectation of a milder new make spirit.
The less mild and rather spicy character of the Pulteney spirit is due to the worm tubs, which are used for cooling. They are located outside the still house and are cooled with water from the river. Worm tubs usually produce more spicy flavours and so the spirit for the Old Pulteney Malts tends to be heavier and spicier.
Ex-Bourbon casks as well as ex-Sherry casks give home to the spirit that is matured to become Pulteney Single whisky with the proportion of Sherry casks being only about 10%. Pulteney has a total of five warehouses, two racked warehouses with large shelves and three low dunnage warehouses with clay floors. One of them used to be a cask-making facility, with mainly herring casks being made there.
The core range currently consists of the NAS Huddart and the newly added Harbour. In the age stated section they have the 12-15 and 18 year old bottlings.
Old Pulteney Harbour - Natural Color (?), Chill filtered, 40.0%
"The Old Pulteney Harbour matured in hand-selected ex-bourbon casks made from American white oak, which developed the distillery's typical maritime influence in the traditional Dunnage Warehouse near Wick Bay, which is also reflected in the flavour (albeit very subtly) in the bottling. Together with Highland Park and Wolfburn, Pulteney is one of the most northerly Scottish distilleries.
Old Pulteney Harbour is deliciously fragrant with notes of creamy vanilla and coconut up front, followed by rich citrus of marmalade and tangerines, lemon drizzle cake sweetness and spicy undertone of fresh oak.
Taking its name from the point which joins Old Pulteney's hometown of Wick to the North Sea, Old Pulteney Harbour celebrates the brand's connection to the sea. The easy-to-drink single malt introduces whiskey drinkers to the character Old Pulteney is renowned for with the warm, welcoming flavors representing the beginnings of a new journey for whisky fans wanting to take a voyage with Old Pulteney.
This approachable whisky is matured by the sea in a quartet of hand-selected fine American oak ex-bourbon casks, each imparting unique flavour profiles and cocooned by the sea air of the remote coastal distillery. The bright gold whisky is deliciously fragrant with notes of creamy vanilla and coconut up front, followed by rich citrus of marmalade and tangerines, lemon drizzle cake sweetness and a spicy undertone of fresh oak. Sweet tones of raisins and tropical fruits are perfectly balanced with darker tones of hot toffee and fresh tobacco leaf. The finish grows with rich fruit and spice to eventually turn into Old Pulteney's Signature mellow sea brine."
Nose: After opening the bottle and pouring it to a Glencairn it is quite closed, reserved. Of course, it might have a so called "bottle shock". After letting it air for 5-10 minutes it opens up beautifully. Creamy, malty notes. Fresh toast with salted butter. Biscuits. Brine. Lots of vanilla and coconut. Orchard fruit basket, mainly green apples and pears. Lots of citrus notes coming through and a nice spiciness. Quite a fresh, salty, malty nose. My expectations are exceeded with this one for now.
Taste: Creamy and oily. It has a nice body with good viscosity. Nice legs too. Sweet vanilla with salted caramel. Tropical fruits such as pineapple and coconut. Again green apples, pears. Black pepper and cinnamon. Sweet and spicy. Freshly baked bread and sultana jam. Taste is great, not overly complex but also not boring. It has the nice salty DNA of Old Pulteney.
Finish: Medium. Fruity and spicy an the same time. A bit dry. Touch of sea salt and vanilla. A typical Old Pulteney whisky.
Overall I think this is a great entry to Old Pulteney. It carries the distillery DNA plus it was in my opinion matured in good quality casks because there are lots of added flavours to the whisky. Yes it's 40% but it doesn't feel thin due to Old Pulteney's style of whisky and probably, most probably due to the wormtubs. At 30 euros you can't go wrong with this. It's a great beginners malt and a great daily sipper to anyone who likes salty whisky. I'll award this whisky with 85 / 100. Great stuff.
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Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. To many more. Sláinte.