Old Pulteney 1983 Vintage

Old Pulteney tasting event, Sydney, February 26, 2020, Whisky #6 Nose: Lots of citrus notes (orange juice concentrate, mandarin, red grapefruit), mango, musk sweets, sherry, hibiscus tea, vanilla, dark fruit and a hint of sea breeze. Palate: Heavy, dense brine and spice arrival. In the development this morphs to sweet honeyed spices and a background of malt extract as the citrus qualities on the nose return for an encore. Fragrant oak notes of cedar cigar boxes and sandalwood chests in the foundation with a supple but firm texture that is just on the lighter side of chewy. Some sherry notes (raisins, dark fruits, etc.) and a little mild tannic spice. Finish: Medium/long. Well oaked malt notes fading to a sweet citrus aftertaste. Water did this no favours at all - everything just crumbled and went to cardboard and dust. Please take it neat. After the lacklustre 25 year old the tasting finished on a good note with this very pleasant 33 year old vintage dram. Bottled in 1983 and matured mostly in bourbon with a little sherry finish, it had the coherency typical of older whiskies but retained some lively notes and freshness. This event was the first time I’ve tasted the new Pulteney core range, and to be honest I’m not that impressed. Looking back over my scores I awarded 3.5 stars (“good” in my system) to 2 of the 5 core range expressions (the 15 and 25 year olds), 3 ("above average") to the 12 year old and 2.75 (“average”) to the peated Huddart expression. There was a distinct DNA similarity to all these whiskies. Only the 18 year old core expression and this 33 year old vintage scored more, both garnering 4 stars, and both were of a different profile to the other whiskies, having more mellow and balanced characters. They seemed like the same cloth, but fashioned by different tailors possessed of considerably greater skill. For me the obvious standout of the evening was the 18 year old. Although it is on the expensive side it was the only whisky that I thought still captured some of the magic of the old range. However nothing on offer began to approach anything like the majesty of the discontinued 17 and 21 year old bottlings and I have no inclination to buy any Old Pulteney at all for the forseeable future “Very Good” : 4 stars

Vanilla, brown sugar(is that marshmallow?) and raisin on the nose. rich, spicy, vanilla on the palate.