Pulteney distillery sits in Wick, the old herring capital of the Scottish north-east coast, founded in 1826 by James Henderson during the herring boom that transformed the Caithness port. The town was built by Sir William Pulteney, and for decades the distillery operated under prohibition imposed by Wick itself — the town voted dry in 1922 and stayed so until 1947, a peculiarity that nearly ended the distillery altogether.
The 21 Year Old was, for a period, the most decorated expression in the range. Jim Murray named it World Whisky of the Year in his 2012 Whisky Bible, an accolade that briefly made Wick a pilgrimage site for enthusiasts. It is a vatting of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, bottled at 46% without chill filtration, a combination that allows the maritime character of the spirit — said to derive from the distillery's unusual boil ball stills and worm tub condensers — to remain intact.
What distinguishes Pulteney from its Highland neighbours is a waxiness of texture and a faint salinity, legacies of both the stills and the location. At 21 years the oak has rounded the spirit considerably, the sherry adding weight without dominating. It is, in the old sense of the word, a serious whisky — contemplative, coastal, and unhurried.
