Review #248 - Old Pulteney 12 Year (c. 2000 bottling)
An older bottling of Old Pulteney 12 Year single malt - we can't pinpoint the date exactly, but we believe that this was bottled around the year 2000, meaning the distillate might come from the late 1980s. There are still traces of design language relating this to the current bottles, but the branding on the label was quite different back then.
There are a few differences between the whisky in this older bottling and the current versions, too - the strength used to be 43% ABV (for the US market, at least), but now we get it at 40% ABV. There's also quite a significant difference in color, with the older liquid being much darker... hard to say whether that's an indication of the cask types, average age of the liquid, or some amount of added caramel coloring.
There isn't a lot of detailed information available about this old single malt - no signals related to chill filtration or color, no cask types listed, no vintage. Based on our tasting experience, we would surmise that it spent at least the majority of its time maturing in ex-bourbon casks, but that's an educated guess at best.
Old Pulteney 12 Year (c. 2000 bottling)
Scotland/Highlands - Single Malt
Price Paid: USD 45 (2023 - at auction)
Age Statement: 12 Years
Strength: 43% ABV
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 4 times over 2 months; bottles at 100%, 80%, 70%, and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Musty, with sweet polished oak, lots of old furniture oak. Wood flavors are dominant, but behind that, we find sweet scents of heather, soft tropical fruits like guava, and dark caramel; there's a chalky malt character, as well.
Palate: A medium-thin mouthfeel, but a decent amount of flavor; perfumed oak, sweet and oily, lightly floral and heathery, generally quite sweet. Baking notes of brown sugar and cinnamon, some vanilla and wildflower honey syrup, and there's a little hint of orange and raisin hiding in the background. Very mature, with an emphasis on those oak flavors.
Finish: Medium length, sweet, almost saccharine. More perfumed oak, hints of oats and malt, syrupy, butterscotch, and vanilla. In the aftertaste, there's a slightly fizzy and floral element. Nicely balanced despite the sweetness, and a little subtle in the finish.
Final Note: Wow, what a difference 20 years makes. This older version of the 12 year Old Pulteney is amazingly mature compared to the current 12 year - actually, mature compared to any current 12 year bottling from any Scottish distillery that we've tried. A lot of emphasis on those sweet, polished oak flavors, maybe hinting at some older casks mixed into the batch, a practice that used to be more common.
Delicious flavor, but if we have to name a downside, it's the bottling strength. This carries more flavor than most 43% whiskies these days, but it's still a bit of a letdown on the mouthfeel, and the finish doesn't last too long. Still, a very tasty whisky.
We found this bottle at auction for roughly the same price that the current iteration of the 12 year old single malt goes for, but the flavors are night and day different; because of that, value here is excellent if you can find a bottle at that reasonable price. We don't surf the auctions too often, but we'll definitely be on the lookout for more of these older Old Pulteney bottlings.
Our Average Rating: 7.5 / 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: 8.43
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