Old Pulteney Navigator

Hot alcohol arrival, enjoyable sweet and sour notes. Pineapple notes show up in the middle along with some sour apple, oak and shortbread. Sweet finish with a little smoke swirling around. Oily and coating mouth feel. 46% and non-chill filtered. Fresh and satisfying.

Just starting to explore whiskies, and this one is interesting to me. I agree with others who say that there is a heat and alcohol burn when taking your first sip. The flavor was hard for me to figure out - kind of muddled between crisp/refreshing and woodsie. I'd suggest pushing past first impressions. This is a fun little scotch with some hidden allure. Add a little water and the heat gets taken down a notch. I don't pick up a lot of fruit flavors (but I admit I need to work on my pallete and vocabulary so that one day I can also describe whiskies as having hints of monkey halos sprinkled with confectioner's sugar and a lingering hints of carmelized bee wings). Anyway - for my Neolithic description I'd say it reminds me of the beach. But not a sunny day at the beach, more like a cool Fall day early morning on the beach. Texture is oily - but not in a bad way. I enjoyed the way it coated my mouth and lingered after each drink. Not a lingering flavor, but a lingering feeling. Like a woman you may end up marrying, first impressions from across the room may be best ignored - walk over and say hi. This is a fun whisky. I like it.

Nose opens with strong oak. There's a hard alcohol edge suggesting very young spirit. Still bright and fruity with green apple, lemon zest, maybe even grapefruit zest. Slight salty caramel sweetness. Grassy and mossy/boggy. Not much in the way of body once it hits the tongue; thin, very little legs. Sharp, hot alcohol attack even with water. Grassy, salty, oaky. Longish, very spicy finish. Pineapple and grapefruit. Perfumey in a way my palate isn't robust enough to identify. Slightly salty at the end but the least of any Pulteney I've tried.