Whisky : Old Pulteney 13 Year SMWS 52.35 “North meets South”

Country/Region : Scotland/Highland

ABV : 58.9%

Cask : Ex-Bourbon (11Y), First Fill PX (2Y)

Age : 13 Years (Distilled 21 March 2007)

Nose : Fruit, floral, and spice.  Opened onto tropical florals and a stroll through a coastal botanical garden.  Salt was in the air along with peeling bark, Rainbow gum trees, cinnamon sticks, and hints of allspice.  Cotton bandages came through along with watermelon rinds and li hing mui powder (salted pickled plum).

Palate : Medium bodied with a sharp sweetness and lingering mustiness.  Sticky honey and maple syrup along with butterscotch, cinnamon, and black pepper.  Lingering woody decay and tropical botanical garden soil came near the back end.  Black sugar, cola, crackseed store preserved fruits, and steamed buns came out with a bit of water.

Finish : Lingering fruits, salt, and sugar cane.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Mixed bag of dried spiced fruits

Notes :  This was a unique Old Pulteney.  I loved the tropical fruits and spice that came through on this, it reminded everyone at the virtual tasting of old school Crackseed stores.  A type of local candy store that specialized in Chinese style preserved or candied fruits, many of them coated with li hing powder made from salted pickled plums.  The spice, fruit, and undercurrent of salt hit those particular memories perfectly.

Overall, this had a wonderful exotic candy aspect to it, though it was youthful and occasionally a bit spirited.  Water helped to smooth out the rough edges and bring through even more caramelized sugars and maltiness.  Old Pulteney has never really captured my attention as much as some other coastal distilleries, but this had me curious to try more.