Review by: The Muskox

I would not consider myself a big fan of Old Pulteney. I got off on the wrong foot with them through a bad experience with the 12-year-old, and have really only had poor-to-mediocre ones since then. I know there are great examples out there… I’m pretty sure I’ve finally got one in front of me today.

This is another one of the Scott’s Selection bottlings that FederalAgents found preserved inside an ancient fossilized mastodon. I knew that this Pulteney has been lauded as the best of the bunch, so my expectations were very high.

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Distillery: Old Pulteney.

Bottler: Scott’s Selection.

Region: Highlands.

ABV: 56.9%. Cask strength.

Age: 27-28 years. Distilled in 1977. Bottled in 2005.

Cask type: Unknown.

Price: N/A, sample.

Color: Bright gold. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

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Nose: Distinguished and malty. Not the saltiest Pulteney I’ve had, but there’s certainly a coastal element here. Thick, dark honey. Refined orchard fruit – apples, pears, apricots. Soft dried herbs. Toasty-malty flavours of browned butter, danishes, wafer sandwich cookies, and banana bread. White chocolate, almonds, and meringue. Bittersweet cooked sugar. Pickled carrots with cumin seeds, like my local Indian place serves as an appetizer. Old books and petrichor seem cliché, but they’re in here.

Palate: Medium-thick texture. Very rich arrival of dripping honey, white chocolate, and orange. Soft earthy peat comes in, with black pepper and ginger spice. Malty, toasty, and creamy-sweet in the middle – challah french toast, toasted cream, lemon squares, cherry tarts, and caramel chews. There are balanced earth and leather notes, and soft oak. Sort of a sweet-savoury-vegetal hot pepper note, maybe a scotch bonnet without the heat. Swamp grass, charred marshmallows, wet rocks, and seashore grass. A hint of sesame seeds.

Finish: Long. An unexpected waxy turn here, into burning paraffin candles. Bittersweet malt and herbs, almost beer-like. Apple peels, lemon oil, and fragrant bergamot. More fatty notes of coconut oil and shea butter. Creamy and a little musty. Almost chives!

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Possible SMWS bottling name: “Lighthouse keeper’s pre-dawn breakfast”

Conclusion: Simply phenomenal. Incredibly rich and complex, but so balanced. It’s got all the charm of a super-old whisky but without any heavy-handed oak at all. Fantastic creamy, malty, and honey notes, and that wax on the finish is just the cherry on top. Nearly all the flavours I could want in a whisky in this style. The sweet earthiness and distant smoke remind me of walks by the river on mild winter days… like the one I’ll be going on 10 minutes from now. A last-second Whisky of the Year.

Final Score: 94

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.