Old Pulteney 21 Year Old

From a neat pour, I found the nose was not very strong and somewhat of a muddled and confusing mix of salt, raisins, damp leather, and spices. After really opening up, sweeter notes of pineapple, pear, and vanilla bean came thru. The palate is light and creamy with a beautiful maltiness that plays against toffee, honey, and grassy notes. The finish is long and lovely, with a firm nip of spice that rounds out the experience.

Despite a weaker nose, overall, this perfectly aged dram is a wonderful experience and something every whisky lover should have on the shelf.

2nd March 2015

I have tried 100's of whisky s and have regular whisky tasting/gatherings with an attempt to bring the best the world has to offer to the table. This dram is one of the finest I recall. Some review I have read state it is not worth the additional charge over the 17 year old. I have a bottle of 17 given as a present and will open next week and am really looking forward to it. If it's anywhere near as good as the 21 I will be thrilled.

27th December 2014

Just astonishing and a absaloubtly delightful exsperiance and worth the money every day of the year and a must try for malt whisky fans !!!

26th November 2014

As accessible as Glenmorangie 10 yo, but with a depth and balance I have not experienced before. This is a very, very good whiskey. No wonder it won so many awards. Highly recommended.

5th November 2014

I have reviewed this once or twice before and yet I still find my self coming back to tell everyone how much of a magical experience this dram is !. I'm not going to tell you all how and what it tastes of I've all ready done that but what I will say if the "potter" world produced a whisky then I would put money on it this would be it !. - Just an experience a malt whisky lover has try.

12th August 2014

Admittedly I've not been tasting top-shelf whiskies for long, just a few months. And of those I've found Islay malts have far more appeal to me. Now that warmer weather is here I thought I'd go for a more delicate one, but this really just didn't do it for me. I agree with all the previous reviews, that it's sneakily light on the nose and palate, but destroys you on the finish. But to me it was just like any old light-flavored Canadian whiskey. Granted it was a splendid, perhaps supreme, example of such, with the bad stuff mostly removed and the good stuff accentuated tenfold. And oh that finish does leave you longing for more. But at the end of the day, there was just nothing I could place my finger on to make me say "I have to get another bottle of this". So I may have to go back to bourbon as my warm weather malt-of-choice. Anyway I won't rate it because I don't want to bring down something I don't have the ability to appreciate, and maybe as my palate develops I'll give it another shot, but for now that's my review.

26th May 2014

so this is nice. delicate fruity and zesty, okay I'm intrigued.. then all of a sudden kapow! we're in business. truly wonderful experience.

4th May 2014

Had the pleasure of enjoying a dram while in Edinburgh at Bow Bar. I have since acquired a bottle for my collection. This one is a sneaky one. Light on the nose and a gentle at the start. Then a nice smooth taste that is refreshing yet bold. It finishes with a peak and leaves you wanting more. So, I had a second. This 21 year competes with with some of the best, in my book at least. I can see why Jim Murray gave it gold. Recommend a taste or two

30th March 2014

Truly beautiful whisky. Says it all. Buy and enjoy.

9th January 2014

The nose is unspectacular, but light and lovely non the less. The dram comes alive at the finish, as the fruits and caramel comes out at the end. 1 sip and you are pleased, 2 and you are engulfed, 3 and this malt really sparks your taste buds.

14th December 2013

So I started with the 17 year old and have to say I liked it a lot, so I guessed I should move on to the 21 as Jim Murray seems to like it who am I to argue so the thing is, is it better? Well to be honest it is but is it £30 better I'm not so sure. So this is how I look at it when the 21 year old runs out would I buy the 21 again or the 17 and it would be the 17 and then put the £30 left over towards another whisky. That said its a great whisky!!!

24th August 2013

a bad start. upon opening, the bloody cork disintegrated! luckily I had those good ol twisty cork things around to surgically fish it out without leaving a big mess...anyway onwards: a nice big "glug" as a pour a generous dram into a whisky glass. the colour is a rich golden amber and after a tea spoon of water and a few swirls, i dug my nose deep in for a sniff. lots of caramel and fruit. quite oily on the lips. the initial explosion is of vanilla fruit caramel honey and anything else sweet I can think of bounces around the mouth like a game of squash. reminds me a bit of the balvanie 12 at this point. it is unquestionably smooth (I hate using that word is describing whiskys). the surprize and most memorable aspect of the drink has to be the after taste which kicks in VERY late and lasts VERY long... an explosion of spice. not of the pepper variety but more of a "ginger dynamite"... layers and layers of it... how odd... I think to savour the drink properly, one should definitely let the entire end-game pass by before starting again... not something that can be appreciated in quick succession... Perhaps I might try with an ice next time but I think the spices will thrive more in neat form... and now I'm gonna go hunt down something to cork up the tasty bastard...

23rd December 2012

What a sneeky little gem this is. Took my delivery of this yesterday and I dont know if it's a bad sign or a good sign that I was immediately cracking this open for a taste; given that it was 9am. So are the chores of life. Caught me totally off guard, the nose was very light and subtle with delicate fruit and floral notes and something every so slightly sweet - not what I expected for something 21 years old. Times for breakfast, so down the hatch it goes; initially sweet, full and very smooth - I do like indeed, an not what I was expecting following the nsoe. All of a sudden something ignites in my mouth like these guys from Wick have managed to cleverly conceal a tiny stick of dynamite inside this scotch, it's not alcohol burn but layers of spice kicked out of nowhere - yee gods! ....and then it's gone, back down to a long aftertaste of honey and trails off to a nice drying finish which has got me reaching the glass for more. This is a whisky Ninja! It's all stealth and sneek and then when you least expect it, bam, it attacks and then slinks off and quiet toes. Stunning.

25th October 2012

Excellent lasting flavour and great for collection.

31st July 2012

Sadly for me this wasn't the one. I built myself up for months wanting the right moment to open this bottle. And sip this wonder malt i have grown fond of with the 12yr old always having a bottle in cupboard. And the occasional 17yr old. It's a lovley malt but just lacks that salty browned butter I like in other samples. I can't get to grips with the after taste of lime or the lack of punch I expect. I have put back in cupboard now to have
a rethink once I'm over the let down. For me I'm still a fan but just not of this one.

11th July 2012

It was good. I was pleased.

12th May 2012

Its very nice.

29th December 2011

I have been drinking whisky for 2 years now and have a collection of 20 or so 10 – 12 year what I call “high street” whisky’s. I feel that my palate has now evolved somewhat and I feel brave enough to try some of the better vintage malts. When I found out about Old Pulteney winning the whisky bible gold medal I felt compelled to buy it as surely £75 was a fair price to pay for the best “whisky in the world”, and the bottle would mark a new stage of my love affair with the water of life.

So on with the review.

The body
I poured a good neat dram into a glencairn glass and gave it a good swivel. The colour was intense amber and golden hue and when I swivelled it around in the glass the legs on that beauty were better then a leggy stockings model.

The nose.
I stuck my nose quite deep into the glass and took an almighty sniff. The overwhelming scent was that of spices with quite a floral undertone to it. I could also just about make out some coco also. I was expecting a stronger scent for such a matured whisky but that is just an observation rather then a criticism.

The taste
It was a weird experience tasting this as I guess I had built up this whisky so much in my mind that the actual event almost passed me by. I swallowed the first mouthful and my first words after that were “hmmm”. Hmmm is not good, and to me it tasted no better then my standard 12 year Balvenie double wood.

I thought to myself I’m not ready for premium whiskies and that I was some sort of whisky philistine who couldn’t appreciate the good stuff. No matter ill give it another go. Then it hit me; that 2nd mouthful was a joyous mixture of caramel, honey and floral flavours that assaulted my pallet in a well co-ordinated pincer movement. Wave upon wave of deep and layered flavours that danced around in my tongue and the roof of my mouth like a celtic jig. That was more like it.

The finish
The finish was the best part, as it was a quite long but smooth, oh so very smooth finish. For no apparent reason the finish also produced a massive grin on my face that induced a euphoric like state in my mind. I was beaming and I didn’t know why.

Conclusion
Don’t make the same mistake as me and become so hung up on drinking the “best” whisky in the world that you miss the main event. Concentrate on what you’re drinking and you will be richly rewarded by what is a very accessible tipple to the newly initiated like me. This is definitely a flagship bottle of whisky in my collection which the cork will see the light of day on birthdays weddings and births.

A must for any whisky drinker who like me are looking to take a step up to a premium tipple.

10th November 2011

So...it's just been awarded ?"WORLD WHISKY OF THE YEAR 2012." by the prestigious "Jim Murray's Whisky Bible.” Scoring a record-equalling 97.5 points out of 100, it is only the third time that a single malt has ever won the prestigious award, and the distillery is just the second Scottish distillery to do so.

Up to now I haven't been a big fan of OP's as they never seemed to quite delivery the complexity I yearned for. But this one should be different...

Initial impressions are good, its a great looking bottle of course and the dram has a beautiful golden glow about it, promising plenty of depth. After a satisfying glugging sound when poured, the nose is quite unique! Fruity, full, slightly spicy and complex. I spent ages and ages just nosing this one trying to pin down the smells. It's just so complex, but begs you to drink it. Its a sexy beast of a whisky to smell I can assure you of that.

And so to the tasting. A sizeable gulp, held in the mouth for 10 seconds and swallowed. To use my daughters expression...omg! First off, its mouth-filling, full bodied and beautifully balanced. Delivering sweetness and balanced fruit flavour only equalled by its smoothness. Theres a hint of sherry and light spice. This is a VERY sophisticated whisky.

My initial thoughts were that Jim Murray has turned a corner with his ratings as previously he often went for malts that delivered a smoke back note (or more). Not so here, this is a complex and exceptionally well balanced dram.

The finish is loooooong and actually made me laugh out loud. I truly thought it wouldn't live up to the accolade, but I was wrong. For me, this well deserves the title of Best Whisky in the World 2012. Its absolutely awesome and now stands pride of place in my 70+ collection. Well done to the guys at OP, you have created an almost perfect whisky.

27th October 2011