I often complain that there are so few single cask bottlings from Old Pulteney available. And now all of the sudden, we have two official single casks in the last couple of months. I reviewed the excellent 1997 Ambassador’s Cask at the beginning of 2016. From that same vintage there’s also a single cask specially bottled for Royal Mile Whiskies, which I review below.
Old Pulteney 1997/2015 (55,7%, OB for Royal Mile Whiskies, C#774)
Nose: Velvety. Candle wax and cookie dough. You’d never guess this be bottled at such a high strength. Some nice fruits. Galia melon, pickled lemon and pear. Some lovely crème brûlée. Rich and well-rounded.
Taste: Fairly spicy arrival, a bit aggressive even. Some hot chili peppers. A bit chalky and drying, with soft vanilla and pears as well as candied lemon.
Finish: Spicy pepper, drying. Ends of a fruitier note (pear, lemon).
Rating: 87
The nose is so, so smooth. But the palate is pretty aggressive, not even water calms it down. As a Pulteney-fan I’m still quite fond of this, but it comes nowhere close to the excellent single cask for Sweden that was bottled around the same time.
Photo: Whiskymonger
I’ve learned recently that Old Pulteney is the brand, the distillery is just Pulteney.
You’re absolutely right. I learned it after wondering why Cadenhead’s leave out the Old on their independent bottlings. I often use both Pulteney and Old Pulteney, but should really stick to just Pulteney.