Old Pulteney Huddart

Complex palate. The peated whisky barrels have a very strong influence.

clear peat on the nose, but not so overwhelming that you cant smell anything else. sweet undertones with a hint of vanilla and orange. when sipping, the body is full and rich with clear barrel spices, and some peat. chocolate and dark fruit develops. on the finish there is chocolate, and some tobacco, almost meaty. the finish is long. an amazing whisky for its price.

Very very slight peat smoke, sweet definitely quite a tame one this, a bit like Talisker on the nose but tastes nothing like it.

Old Pulteney tasting event, Sydney, February 26, 2020, Whisky #2 Nose: Very faintly peaty initially but the smoke grows as the dram opens. A little lemony fruit, vanilla and a fleeting hint of menthol. Palate: The arrival is led by smoke, and it is a heavier in quality here than it is on the nose. Citrus, brine, hot spices and a brown sugar on the development with some oak towards the finish. Over time, and particularly with the addition of water, the peat-reek gains a cardboard note. Finish: Medium. Ashy smoke and brine. The smoke lends weight to this whisky and it is very similar to the current 12 year old but with a layer of smoke added. It’s actually younger (8-10 years) but the smoke gives it presence and heft that makes it seem older than it is. The story from the brand rep was that this was the result of a happy mistake when a run of spirit was accidentally filled into ex-bourbon casks that had previously held Laphroaig. Hmm. It’s more likely they intentionally did an experimental casking using ex-peated barrels rather than run peated wash through the stills. Regardless, the results were impressive enough to convince the distillery to make Huddart a core range product, but it’s not aged in ex-Laphroaig. The casks come from stablemate distillery Knockdhu, which produces a range of peaty whiskies. It’s a good, gently peated dram and it has been well received by the critics. There are several distilleries making these “aged-in-ex-peated-cask” expressions right now (Scapa, Wolfburn etc.) and personally I think Wolfburn Northland is a more subtle realization of this maturation concept. “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)