Scotch Whisky Review #149: Old Pulteney 28 Year Single Cask (1988)

Distillery: Old Pulteney

Region: Highland

Price: Many thanks to /u/MajorHop for letting me try this!

Cask Type: Bourbon Cask

Cask No.: 10110

ABV: 59.0% Cask Strength

Age: 28 Year. Distilled 1988, Bottled 2016.

Color: 0.4, Jonquil/Ripe Corn. Non-Chill Filtered and Natural Color.

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Nose: (according to the wife) Lemon zest is the main note here along with a bit of marzipan.

Palate: There’s a lot of candy-like notes followed by a bit of golden raisin. Saltwater taffy, powered chocolate, and green jolly ranchers all make up the pile of candy. It’s far from a sugar bomb though, there’s a very…peculiar…note that I have a hard time placing that makes sure of that. The closest thing it reminds me of is chewing on a thick chunk of seaweed. The high strength causes this to burn a little bit more than I’d like, even after watering it down considerably.

Finish: Medium in length. There’s some more of the candy notes in candied lemons and chocolate powder. There’s a very iron-rich water note right at the end as well that gives a distinct metallic taste.

Conclusion: This is a rather conflicting dram for me. There’s a lot of great notes going on for it, I love the candy mix that’s in the palate especially the saltwater taffy, but at the same time there a few things that really rub me the wrong way. The seaweed note is far too strong and just seems a bit out of place. The metallic water note at the end also makes it hard to enjoy and the ethanol burn makes it difficult to drink. Unfortunately, it’s not for me. Perhaps I should’ve eased my way into Old Pulteney’s instead of diving head first with this one. Would I buy a bottle? No.

Final Score: 76.

Scotch Whisky Review #149, Highland Review #34, Whisky Network Review #197

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Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection (if feasible).
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.