Old Pulteney 17 Year

Very smooth, delicate. Opens up a little with some time. White grapes, sherry. Something a little funky going on here — maybe the cereal notes. I think I prefer the 12 though. Wouldn’t say this is bad but for the price there’s no comparison for me I’d go with the 12. That said, the 12 changed as I explored the bottle. Maybe the same will happen here Edit: Definitely did happen. I’d rate this 4.5 now. No funkiness, quite smooth. Agree that letting it open up is a good idea.

My 4.25 mark is not going to seem compatible with this next statement. My first dram with this expression was so uncomfortable and almost I repeat almost un enjoyable. On the nose it was so fruity and exciting but the taste was not matching the nose at all it threw me. It started to harmonize after a while in the glass but it remained so complicated throughout my dram. when I was done I couldn’t stop thinking about it and craved more hence the high score. It is the most interesting bottle I have and look forward to have a real journey with this.

Nose: Not much there. Zesty fruit and boiled sweets (sherbet lemons and soor plooms!) Palate: Salt and spice. Sugar and apples. Finish: The finish dried right out. Oak and spice, but still with plenty of the fruits (although moving into more darker dried fruit) I used to drink this quite regularly a few years ago. A friend and I would meet every Friday at a whisky bar near my old workplace and would put the world to rights. This was a dram I would often start with! Sadly, no longer part of the range, but there are still a few to sample in the wild! Lovely, and sadly missed.

I've read many positive reviews of this one. So when I found out it had been discontinued in favor of a new core-range lineup, I had to jump on it. I like the old-style 12 year, and the Navigator is pretty good too. Let's see what this retired standout is capable of. Nose: Fruit forward. Apple, plum, honeydew, banana, pear, apricot, pineapple juice, and some fresh-squeezed lemon. Vanilla, toffee, honey, marshmallow, and some malty cereal notes. Almond, walnut, and cashew. Cinnamon and sea salt. Clove and nutmeg. Oak. Classic Pulteney, which is a great representation of briny, coastal Highlander. Nice start. Palate: The heavy sea salt takes the lead. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and oak as well. Caramel and milk chocolate. Salt water taffy. Malt, honey, vanilla, marshmallow, and toffee. More apple, pear, plum, apricot, pineapple, peach, banana, and some bitter cranberry. Very similar to the nose, only that the spice notes present themselves first while the fruit notes are batting clean-up. It's fantastic no matter how they're arranged. Finish: Pineapple, apple, pear, apricot, orange, and plum. After the initial fruit burst I'm getting a heavy hit of the sea salt and cinnamon that I've detected throughout. Add in some black pepper and oak. And lemon citrus. And then some banana-strawberry smoothie notes before this medium-long finish. I'm not sure if it was the extra 5 years, the addition of sherry cask-influence, or the 6% bump in ABV. But there's something special happening here. I haven't had anything that I can quite compare to this. It uniquely bundles a lot of traits that I've never experienced in one single whisky. I see no reason to discontinue this, and every reason to keep it. The new 15 and 18 (which are the 2 rough equivalents to this one in the new range, according to price point) had better be sensational to justify their existence. Otherwise Pulteney just outright blew it with the remodeling of their core lineup. This is one of the finest mainland Scottish malts I've ever had the pleasure of drinking. After trying this, I'm on the lookout for the Old Pulteney 21. As for this one, get it before it's all gone.

Floral fruity sweet.. satisfying