Review 215: Old Pulteney Navigator

Review 215

6/11/14

Old Pulteney Navigator: 46% abv

Background: Now and again, our smaller distilleries will go out on a limb and release a limited edition bottling. Old Pulteney, despite their size, actually does quite a bit of this. Between their extensive travel range and the new releases (they just announced a 35 Year offering), Old Pulteney is a very active distillery. One of their most recent bottlings is the Navigator, a non-age statement whisky aged in a mixture of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. It totes an impressive 46% abv and non-chill filtering, and I can confidently report that it also does not appear to be artificially colored. So while Pulteney has held onto the “craft” spirit of this limited edition bottling, it does raise some questions. Is this just an excuse to introduce a younger whisky into the market? Does this fight toe to toe with the 12 Year? Let’s pour a dram and dig into it more.

Straight

Nose: To start, the nose illustrates a salty, intense flavor to this whisky. The immediate impression is fresh maltiness, young and vibrant. There is some floral, vegetal notes to the whisky, but it is more dominantly a buttery, creamy vanilla smell that comes forward. The briny, sea salt flavor is extremely assertive in the nose, and there is a presence of allspice as well. There is some fruity, candy apple smell that starts to come through after a little bit of time, with a slight sweet sherry note in there. The nose starts to have a slightly sugary smell to it, with light hints of pear and marmalade. Ultimately, the sweet, fruity notes combat with the intensely salty character to the aroma.

Arrival: The arrival doesn’t start off sweet by any means, highlighting the salty, intensely malty character of the whisky up front. There is a vegetal quality to the arrival, with vanilla and oaky notes up front. That same creaminess found in the nose is also fairly dominant in the arrival. With some sour barley grain leading into the body. Refined spice notes of allspice and clove are also a noticeable contribution to the initial flavor.

Body: Once into the body, the introduction of spices and tart flavors becomes more evident. This single malt retains the rich, barley flavor that eludes to how youthful it is. There is also some cinnamon stick and gingerbread in the body, which lasts into the finish.

Finish: The finish is a blast of malt, with salt and vegetal grain notes carrying through. There is some sweetness from the sherry cask that becomes somewhat prevalent. The finish seems to be well dominated by the spirit presence. There is a tinge of sherry in the finish, but it is a weak note which tends to be washed over by the other parts of the whisky. Subtleties of orange and lemon are present as well, which adds some variety to the flavor profile.

With Water

Nose: After adding some water, some rich fruit flavors are coming out, with dark berries and red grapes at the forefront. The whisky is also fairly jammy, while presenting some orange marmalade on the nose. A powdery malt flavor is still present, but the floral, fruity flavors are definitely more prominent now.  As the Scotch opens up more, the orange is becoming a more prevalent flavor.

Arrival: The salt and seawater is still present here, and in no lesser form than before. There is more of a dry, malty presence now. The whole experience is actually slightly more bitter now, with bitter black pepper notes being relatively dominant.

Body: The body retains the bitter, dry notes from before. There is still some creamy, vanilla notes to the whisky, but the bitterness is much more up front than before.

Finish: The finish has some intense spice to it now, but it lost some level of complexity at this point. There is a grassy, green vegetable note that is coming through in the finish now. 

Final Comments: Old Pulteney is definitely a consistently good whisky, whether it be the 12, 17, or 21 Year offerings. This special edition is something of a conflicting story. The quality of this spirit is good, and to some degree, the complexity and uniqueness is also above average. That being said, this Scotch is undoubtedly immature  and there is no getting around that. The harshness, bitterness, and unforgiving intensity is not characteristic of Pulteney, although some of the flavors are. That being said, this can easily be forgiven considering the price of the whisky, but it does seem as if Navigator could have used a few more years of well-rounded aging to bring it to that next level. In either case, this is not poor buy, and as long as the 12 Year is protected from NAS bottling fate, this type of release is certainly welcome.

Why you’d buy it: You’d like to try a young, vibrant Old Pulteney at a good price.

                                                                                                          

Why you wouldn’t: You demand the quality of Pulteney 17 in everything you drink.

Score:  8.25/10

Review 210: Old Pulteney 17 Year

Review 210

4/13/14

Old Pulteney 17 Year: 46% abv

Background: We’re back to Old Pulteney. We released a podcast with Old Pulteney whiskies as a big cameo. The 12 Year has been the KCM quality per dollar pick for quite a long time; and by a long time, we reviewed that whisky back in November of 2012. But what about a more premium, older Old Pulteney? Is that same quality from the 12 Year present in older expressions? It’s in the name, after all. The answer to that question can be found by looking at the 17 Year, which is a single malt at 46% and un-chill filtered. Some fun facts about Old Pulteney: They are limited to one wash still and one spirit still, contributing to a very limited production of one million liters per year. Also, if you take a look at Old Pulteney’s stills, they are very uniquely shaped, which might contribute to the very unique flavor that their whiskies have. Now it’s time to put this more expensive whisky to the test.

Straight

Nose: Well this doesn’t disappoint the maritime coastal theme that Old Pulteney totes about in their advertisements. The nose is instantly salty, with a fresh smell of seawater. It is so prevalent in this whisky, I can’t think of anything else like this. There is a rich maltiness that couples very nicely with a tropical fruitiness. The tropical fruit notes include tangerine, mango, and melon. There is also a slight vanilla note, which tends to take a back seat to the salt blast. The oakiness from the cask is hard to depict in the nose, but there are subtle layers of spices that come through evenly. There is also hints of floral notes that surface occasionally. The balance in the nose is extremely enjoyable, allowing for a full exploration of the flavors present.

Arrival: The arrival starts off with the tropical fruit notes and maltiness. There is a nice presence of oakiness, along with a load of spiciness. The arrival is probably the thinnest part of the whisky, still having plenty of complexity. It is a little lighter, and hides some of the salty character of the whisky.

Body: This is where the salt really kicks into the whisky. Along with a very dominant note of sea salt, orange marmalade and tropical fruit notes invade the senses here. This is such a bombastic body in the whisky. There is some nice caramel, vanilla, and beefy spices that come forward in the body. There is also some sugarcane that shows up.

Finish: The finish really drags out the saltiness, along with a nice fading of malt and tangy fruit notes. There is a very vegetal aftertaste to this whisky, with a slight hint of leather and sawdust  as well. There is plenty of cloves and allspice, with dashes of ginger and nutmeg that also play into the finish. There is definitely reminiscence to a chai tea when you get further into the finish.

With Water

Nose: The nose has become much more floral, with more hints of vanilla and caramel coming through up front. The whisky starts to smell slightly more alcoholic now, with the tropical fruits and saltiness still being dominant notes. There is also a slight instance of baking soda in the nose now, coupled with an older note of leather polish. There is a strange note of over-ripened apples and even a bit of perfume to the nose.

Arrival: The arrival becomes more spicy and the tropical aspect of the fruit flavors is more exaggerated. There is a more candied lemon flavor in the arrival now, with some spicy oak moving into the body. The maltiness also comes out much more now than it did before.

Body: The fruit flavor is huge here in the body now, bringing out a very tangy, tart, delicious blend of tangerines, orange, and lemon. It is a truly amazing experience. It doesn’t become so tart as to mask the coastal notes of this whisky, but the flavors do pop in a beautiful fashion.

Finish:  The finish surprisingly takes an intensely bitter, oaky turn after some water is exposed. It is by no means unpleasant, but it does present a different edge to the Scotch. The tropical fruits are still present, along with some other sweet and salty flavors, but the wood really plays into the whisky now. The spiciness is still a strong component. There is even hints of tobacco in the finish now.

Final Comments: So this is a salty, coastal Highland malt that distinguishes itself from a lot of its competitors. The 12 Year Old Pulteney made us interested in the distillery, the 17 Year made us fall in love. It is an intense one and it isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you want to get more adventurous, this is an all-time KCM favorite. This whisky wins points for complexity, balance, and uniqueness, and with just a bit of water the blasts of flavor just get better. I would go so far as to say if I had to drink one whisky for the rest of my life, at this point this would be the one. We highly recommend you give this a try if you get the chance.

 

Why you’d buy it: Because at this very moment, we’re telling you to.

                                                                                                          

Why you wouldn’t: You don’t want to try something with the intensity that this whisky has.

Score:  9.75/10

KCM Spirit Reviews Podcast #2

Check out the second KCM Spirit Reviews Podcast at:

https://soundcloud.com/kcm-spirit-reviews/kcm-spirit-reviews-podcast-2-3

Review 106: Old Pulteney 12 Yr

Review 106

11/21/12

Old Pulteney 12 Yr: 43% abv

This is a Single Malt Scotch, and quite a wonderful one. Sorry not to leave you in anticipation, but I didn’t want to wait. This is the most northern distillery on the main land of Scotland, which sits in Pulteneytown near Wick Bay. Ahh! That’s why they have the boat theme going on here. What does location matter in a whisky review? It turns out to be a really important thing. Coastal spirits generally take on a more salty, seawater characteristic, where valley whiskies have more of a fresh taste to them, which fresh valley water attributes too. Do you want evidence that this matters? Old Pulteney 12 Yr would shout that to you. Here is some tasting notes:

 On the nose, you get an instant, light graininess to the whisky, with malt barley right up front, some lemon-type citrus, and with our long intro about water sources foreshadowing to this, saltiness! Yes, there is salt and brininess to this, with some seaweed on the nose as well, but there is sweetness as well: sugarcane type sweetness, and a very slight hint of honeydew. There is slight spiciness, and a dry yeast on the nose well. The nose is quite complex, and feeds more in after water, adding some more sea water smell, light dry mint, and other dry herbs and fruits into the nose. When you finally try the whisky, you might be surprised at how personable it is. 

It does start salty on the arrival, but gives you the malt that you love in your Scotch, with some interesting ginger spice and seaweed. After water, you’ll find the arrival sweeter, with an addition of wheaty grain notes and a smooth palate. The body gives you a great blast of sweet barley, briny salt, even some slight peat. Interestingly, this isn’t a complex body before you put some water in it, but after, more starts to come out. You’ll get some heather honey, more malt, pepper and allspice, mint leaves, and even some light herb and spice notes as well. The finish is complex as well, with similar notes to the body, but adding some molasses, powdered sugar, hay and sherry, wheat, sweet cinnamon, peat, pepper, and a slight dryness. 

It is a medium finish, so not terribly impressive, but gives off some great notes and differences, and the introduction of sherry into the finish is really enjoyable. Overall, this is a complex and different Scotch, and we think it to be light-years ahead of other Scotches in the same price range. The saltiness shouldn’t deter you from this, as it is compelling and not overbearing. We highly recommend this, and at $40 a bottle, it should be a Single Malt staple for anybody looking for something refreshing and wonderful. At 43% and a natural looking color, this hits all the right marks. Highly recommended.

Score: 9.25/10