Whiskey_Hound
Old Pulteney 17 Year
Single Malt — HIghlands, Scotland
Reviewed
July 29, 2020 (edited August 1, 2020)
I've read many positive reviews of this one. So when I found out it had been discontinued in favor of a new core-range lineup, I had to jump on it. I like the old-style 12 year, and the Navigator is pretty good too. Let's see what this retired standout is capable of.
Nose: Fruit forward. Apple, plum, honeydew, banana, pear, apricot, pineapple juice, and some fresh-squeezed lemon. Vanilla, toffee, honey, marshmallow, and some malty cereal notes. Almond, walnut, and cashew. Cinnamon and sea salt. Clove and nutmeg. Oak. Classic Pulteney, which is a great representation of briny, coastal Highlander. Nice start.
Palate: The heavy sea salt takes the lead. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and oak as well. Caramel and milk chocolate. Salt water taffy. Malt, honey, vanilla, marshmallow, and toffee. More apple, pear, plum, apricot, pineapple, peach, banana, and some bitter cranberry. Very similar to the nose, only that the spice notes present themselves first while the fruit notes are batting clean-up. It's fantastic no matter how they're arranged.
Finish: Pineapple, apple, pear, apricot, orange, and plum. After the initial fruit burst I'm getting a heavy hit of the sea salt and cinnamon that I've detected throughout. Add in some black pepper and oak. And lemon citrus. And then some banana-strawberry smoothie notes before this medium-long finish.
I'm not sure if it was the extra 5 years, the addition of sherry cask-influence, or the 6% bump in ABV. But there's something special happening here. I haven't had anything that I can quite compare to this. It uniquely bundles a lot of traits that I've never experienced in one single whisky.
I see no reason to discontinue this, and every reason to keep it. The new 15 and 18 (which are the 2 rough equivalents to this one in the new range, according to price point) had better be sensational to justify their existence. Otherwise Pulteney just outright blew it with the remodeling of their core lineup.
This is one of the finest mainland Scottish malts I've ever had the pleasure of drinking. After trying this, I'm on the lookout for the Old Pulteney 21. As for this one, get it before it's all gone.
100.0
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@Scott_E The 15 year was a decent one and not to badly priced. Older than that are detached from reality price wise!
@cascode Yeah I rechecked and was just under $600 in the end! Yes I have 2 opened bottles of the old 18.. still kickingmyself i didn't stock up on the old 15 at under $10NZ at the time!
@cascode @whiskeyhound OP21 was the highlight of my Whiskey 2017 and shocked that night to learn the 17 and 21 were to be discontinued. I immediately found and purchased 2 of each. Both are fantastic and disappointed the new line is not as good (as I have been reading). Even the 12, I believe is weakened to 43% from 46%. Nice review!
@Whiskey_Hound It’s an ongoing core range expression but because the distillery was silent from 1996-2002 their bottlings contained increasingly older contents at certain times. The 18 year old from 2018 was at least 22 years old. I’ve already seen prices of pre-2020 batches climbing on the secondary market.
@jonwilkinson7309 Thank you sir! Good to hear some positive words about the 15. I'm loving this one right now, but I've definitely got to give the new range a go too. @cascode they discontinued GD 18??
Great review! I was really impressed with the 15 when I first tried it, and after getting most of the way through the bottle, I still highly enjoy it. But I still miss the 17, which says a lot.
@Soba45 Well done. You and the auction winner both made a killing, IMHO. I remember when it was announced that the 21 would be discontinued it sold out over here immediately. Then a short while later Vintage Direct obtained a few bottles but I hesitated as the price had gone up from $180 to $300 in the space of a fortnight and consequently missed out on the last stock in the country. I still kick myself for not just buying everything they had available. It did teach me a valuable lesson, however so now when a favourite dram is being discontinued I make sure to buy a couple of bottles (GlenDronach 18 being a case in point - I was very happy to score 2 bottles from 2018 recently, and at the old price).
@cascode I just offloaded the 21 year for $500NZ at auction. You were right people LOVE that stuff. I paid $170 a couple of years ago!
@cascode Great advice! I'm lucky enough to see the 17 year fairly frequently around me, so be able to snag a couple more bottles before it's all said and done. But I have never once seen the 21 in the wild. I'm sure it was a rare bottle to begin with, and the discontinuation only makes finding it more difficult. If I can track one down, I'll be certain to do the flight you suggested and report it here!
Great review. One of my all-time favourite drams. Some prefer this to the 21 year old, others (me included) think the 21 is superior. In my opinion the new range is not as good as the old expressions - it's not just the length of maturation, something specific happened and I'm thinking it's all to do with cask availability. There is a complexity and depth to the old expressions that is missing in the new range. If you get the chance to try them, do a vertical tasting of the old-bottling 12, 17 and 21 year in that order. The way the increasing sherry influence and age impacts the distillate is impossible to miss when you directly compare them. I was gutted when they discontinued the old line, but at least I did manage to get 2 bottles of the 17 before it disappeared.
@SolanaRoots @Rick_M Thanks for the heads up! Was on the fence between 4.75 and 5
Me too! 🙂
Great review and curious to see your rating...