Old Pulteney had released official single casks before, but from 2018 to 2020 they seemed to toss casks out of the warehouse at a crisp rate. This week I'll be reviewing three of the casks released in 2018. And since I've already consumed all three samples, I can tell you (SPOILER ALERT) that they were quite different from each other.
There have been two cask 722s. One was a 2006 distillery-only ex-bourbon cask that tipped the scales at 62.8%abv in 2020. The other, today's whisky, was also an ex-bourbon cask but with a little more age and a little less fire.
(from a bottle split)
NEAT
The fruity nose offers apple juice, peach juice, and a mineral white wine in its early sniffs, picking up quieter notes of malt and lemon vinaigrette later on. Sweet and salt are in near perfect balance in the palate: apples, mint candy, a few flowers, and a touch of salted caramel. It finishes with apples, lemons, limes, and flowers.
DILUTED to 46%abv, or 1 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
Leaner, the nose has become brinier and more mineral while also adding more barley. Oh, guava and peaches on the palate. Bits of herbal bitterness, barley, raw almonds, and strawberry candy too. It finishes with guava and barley.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Simple and solid when neat, but with a more delightful palate when diluted, this OB OP is exactly what I'd hope for when buying a bottle of single cask Pulteney. The cask was dumped before the oak took over, holding onto some great fruit notes, while shedding immature rawness. On Wednesday, I'll review another, contrasting, ex-bourbon cask bottled in 2018.
Availability - Probably sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 88
