Review #245 - Old Pulteney 21 Year
Far up the Eastern coast of the Northern Scottish highlands, you can find Pulteney distillery residing in the town of Wick. The distillery produces whisky for the Old Pulteney brand, and has a relatively large capacity, producing nearly 1.5 million lpa in recent years. Their whiskies are known for their unpeated, coastal, oily character - subtle characteristics, considering that the malt is generally considered to have lighter flavors.
Introduced in 2005, this 21 year old bottling spent time maturing in refill ex-bourbon casks, as well as ex-Fino sherry casks. The flavors should theoretically be a bit more nuanced and less overpowering coming from that cask selection, so we're hoping that this single malt has aged gracefully during its wait of more than two decades.
The 21 year expression from Old Pulteney was discontinued in 2017, alongside the beloved 17 year old; because of that, it's very challenging to find a bottle anywhere other than an auction, where the prices are rising for this increasingly rare single malt.
Old Pulteney 21 Year
Scotland/Highlands - Single Malt
Current Locally Available Price: USD 640 (2024)
Age Statement: 21 Years
Strength: 46% ABV
Cask Makeup: Refill ex-bourbon casks and ex-Fino sherry casks
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 2 months from a sample. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Old perfumed oak, sweet, almost syrupy sweet. Very mature, and the sherry maturation brings fruits of peach, grape, and dried purple fruit.
Palate: The mouthfeel has a medium thickness; like the nose, strong perfumed oak is the first flavor, along with brown sugar and rich caramel. Hints of dried fruit and orange citrus come and go, and the texture it quite oily; with time, a hint of salty flavor develops.
Finish: Medium-long, with a soft texture - it's oily, and it lingers for a while. Mature polished oak notes, heather and floral perfume, and peach compete for space; in the aftertaste, malt and vanilla grow stronger.
Final Note: This is a gorgeous whisky - tastes even more mature than most 21 year whiskies in our experience, possibly hinting at a few older casks mixed in. Pulteney has routinely released whiskies from 30 to 40 years old in recent years, so we wouldn't be surprised if they were bumping up the average age of the 21 year whisky with some older liquid - they clearly had the stocks available.
This was generally a sweeter experience, not too much on the spicy or tart side; it was all about that perfumed oak for us.
Alas, despite the great flavor experience, this is now too expensive to be considered any sort of good value. Auction prices will fluctuate over time, but recently we haven't seen anything below $400, and if we want to buy a bottle online right now, it's going to cost over $600 in our area.
Our Average Rating: 8.5 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 3.96
Check out our other reviews of 20+ year old whisky:
Review #241 - Master of Malt Cambus 30 Year (1991 Vintage)
Review #225 - Balblair 1990 2nd Release (2015)
Review #158 - GlenAllachie 30 Year
Review #129 - The Sovereign Invergordon 50 Year (1964)
Review #128 - Bruichladdich Black Art 09.1 29 Year
