As part of the advice for new drinkers I shared, I touched on how a new drinker like me should find what resonates with their taste before delving deeper into whisky. After my first few reviews I realised that, unfortunately for my budget, I like the range of expressions whisky can deliver. So the next step for my journey is to dig deeper into the three main “flavour signatures” in whisky. I will dedicate some time to looking at Bourbon aged, Sherry aged and Peated drams. Today’s Old Pulteney 12 review introduces a series that will focus on single malts exclusively aged in bourbon casks.
TL:DR: Surprisingly flavourful for a non-integrity malt. Maybe Inver House has cracked the recipe for a decent 40% abv drams
Vote*: 6 Good stuff
Old Pulteney, founded in 1826 in the town of Wick, used to have the claim of being the northernmost distillery on the Scottish mainland. Although it lost this title in 2022 with the opening of 8doors in John O’Groats, it remains the northernmost produced whisky in the British mainland you can actually purchase. At least for the time being.
The distillery itself has some intriguingly oddball stills, especially the wash still. Besides having a very large boil ball to increase reflux and copper contact, it is peculiar as the top is flat. This is because, allegedly, the original still purchased was too tall for the building which houses the distillery and had to be cut off. Wormtubs are used as condensers, which are said to be responsible for the spicy character of the spirit.
Although not 100% identical, this has some similarities to what happens in another one of Inver House distilleries, Knockdhu.
Old Pulteney 12 years old
Specs
Price paid: €29.90
Lot/bottled date: L 31/05/2022 R22/5242
ABV: 40%
Natural colour: No
Non-chill filtered: No
Casks Used: Entirely in air/-dried ex-bourbon casks
Tasting Notes
Colour: Bright gold, but it doesn’t matter as it is caramel coloured.
Nose: Quite intense for the ABV. Opens with a lot of fruit aromas. A strong pear note is immediately noticeable and lingering, but there is some apple, melon and banana too. There is a sour/sweet note immediately following the fruit, like vanilla custard and lime fudge.
Once my nose gets used to these more intense notes, there are underlying aromas of malted biscuits, white pepper, white flowers and maybe cardamom. There is a hint of maritime breeze that comes and goes. After sitting in the glass for a while more Bourbon typical notes develop – some cherry and cinnamon, and the citrus gets sweeter, tangerine rather than lime.
Taste: No question about it, the thin mouthfeel trays the 40% abv. The taste intensity on the other hand does not. Intense malty biscuits, vanilla, and toffee upfront. Then the palate gets more nuanced. There is some citrus peel, a slight oaky bitterness, some sweet spices, cinnamon and cardamom, vanilla and a touch of maritime saltiness.
Finish: I expected a relatively short finish but was pleasantly surprised. OK, the finish is only medium in length but that is quite impressive for a chill-filtered, 40% whisky. The finish is quite creamy with malt, vanilla, fudge and a bit of milk chocolate,.
Vote: 6 Good stuff. Yes, it is 40%, chill-filtered and caramel coloured. And yet, like another InBev malt, anCnoc, the end product manages to deliver both aromas and taste. The weak mouthfeel does leave you wondering how good this could be if it were bottled at 46% and not chill-filtered. To get there I need to invest in a 15 YO.
Conclusions
If you read my first reviews mainly focusing on 40% ABV single malts, you may understand why I approached this review of the Old Pulteney 12 without a load of expectations. Yet, as with the anCnoc 12, Inver House seems to have a knack for producing non-integrity drams that deliver a better drinking experience than their peers.
The Old Pulteney 12 has some of the common issues with 40% malts, mostly regarding the thin mouthfeel, but overall it went beyond my expectations. It is not an overly complex whisky, and I wouldn’t really expect it at this price or in this category, but it still manages to deliver some layered nuances of flavour.
The use of worm tubs instead of shell and tube condensers seems to be what makes the difference here. If you are going to dilute a spirit, starting with a heavier character helps retain some intensity that would disappear with a lighter starting material. It is also true that the stills used, with the noticeable boil bubbles, usually produce a ligher newmake spirit.
Maybe it is a matter of balance between removing off notes during distillation while keeping some of the body and spice thanks to the worm tubs. I am definitely curious to try more from this distillery, especially the higher abv 15 and 18 year old expressions. Most of all, the textbook bourbon-cask aromas are there and clear even to a new drinker like me.
I always find it interesting, after writing my tasting notes, to look at other opinions.
Here are a few other reviews of the Old Pulteney 12 year old I enjoyed:
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