Old Pulteney 21 Year

Nose: A seamlessly intertwined bouquet of aromas including stewed fruits, malted barley, strong honey of several types (manuka, leatherwood, redgum), blood oranges, raisins, brine, cinnamon, allspice, leather, aromatic pipe tobacco, red apple, pear and toffee. Threading through all this is a sublime sherry-cask presence. Not just sherry and oak aromas sitting in the background, but a powerful active sherry cask personality. There's also the smell of brown sugar and butter being cooked together in preparation for making butterscotch muffins. Palate: A complex arrival that combines sweet, salt, fruity and honey flavours. A rich, creamy, development as massive malted caramel tones and some precise gingery spice emerge to play with butterscotch and stewed figs on a field of both sweet and dry sherry that is gently seasoned with cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. Finish: Medium/long. Spicy fruit and honey flavours gently fade into the sunset leaving an aftertaste of slightly drying salt and lingering warm spicy ginger. This is one of my all-time favourite whiskies. It is a fascinatingly rich and characterful dram, but simultaneously comforting and reassuring. It is magnificent right from the moment it is poured, but will continue to open and evolve for ages. Tasting this whisky is like a long, captivating conversation with one of your childhood heroes who, once you meet them, actually exceeds your expectations. The nose is textbook. There's no other word for it. This is the nose to emulate if you want to create a great unpeated whisky. The palate is huge and very rewarding with a majestic texture, and the finish is the perfect dignified finale to the proceedings. The whole experience makes you fall back in your chair with a contented groan of "oh, yes". This is a desert island dram and it is, quite simply, perfection and I was gutted when I heard last year that it was being withdrawn. I'd recommend tasting it neat, or with the addition of just 2 drops of water, but however you take it, don't rush the experience. This wonderful malt demands time and respect, and will repay the effort many times over. Diluting this with sparkling water, soft drinks or ice is forbidden. The universe will punish those who transgress. This re-review is based on the last drams of my last bottle. Tomorrow some mates are coming over to assist me in polishing off the remainder. Auld lang syne. "Outstanding" : 91/100 (5 stars)