Ending my reviews for today on this one - a bit lighter and frankly easier to review whisky. Nose - vanilla, sea salt, and nice oak. There's a light note of berry or fruit, likely from some very tired old sherry casks. There's a also a bit of a waxy vanilla, don't think clynelish but more just a muted and earthy vanilla. I almost get a juicy fruit element but not that exact note. Taste - I get vanilla, oak, and a bit of salt (got more on the nose). Having had some springbank, it's really nice to see a showcase of just salt as I was starting to question if it was peated, yes there is a difference in salty and light peat and this one correcting my confusion. I get a light green apple on the finish with some earthy and savory notes. if I were to describe this it would be a lot of discussion on vanilla, clean, and yet salty. I generally don't get a clean malt flavor with salt but that's kinda what makes old pulteney so good. The one thing I am coming back to is that I think the old 12 year 43% is a better whisky, I know crazy.This is more complex, the finish is longer, but man I miss that caramel and vanilla ice cream with cookie dough I got on the 12. It's a real shame this is no longer going to be made as well as the REAL 12 year. I really love what this distillery has been doing, but it's just a shame that we're going to see a decline in quality and an increase in price. Anyway 2.25, a bit higher score than the 12 as the age and finish are better here. I still think if I could find the 12, even if price weren't a factor (and this bottle is 90 dollar more than that 12 I last bought). I'd still likely take the 12. Still whisky quality is more than "do I like it more" and here the 17 is a better made product. I am wondering however if I got an off bottle as I had a sample of this a while back and it blew my mind. I'm about 25% through this bottle and it hasn't come close to what I remember in that sample. So apologies if it turns out this was a dud and I under valued this bottle, that sample would have likely been a 3.25.