Up for your drinking enjoyment is legendary independent bottlers, Signatory Vintage and their fantastic take on an Island malt – the Pulteney 2008 Aged 12 Years. A Cask Strength, marriage of Bourbon and Sherry casks with a slight salty maritime influence that will dance on your taste buds.

The Pulteney 2008 Aged 12 Years was distilled (as the name suggests) at the Pulteney Distillery and aged in refill Bourbon Barrels. After around 9 years the three casks were married into a single fresh Sherry Butt for 33 months to finish. The resultant whisky is bottled at cask strength, un-chill filtered and without any additives of any kind.

Some of our newer members may not know what an Independent Bottler is or what they offer us whisky lovers. Well an Independent Bottler is basically a company that buy a distilleries spirit, then release that under their own name. They may buy the spirit freshly made and completely mature it themselves, or they may buy mature whisky and either bottle it ‘as is’, or finish it in an alternative cask (or just some more years in the same cask) before bottling.

Interestingly, most ‘established’ brands of Scottish single malt we know today didn’t release under their own names ‘back in the day’. It was independent bottler (mainly grocers originally) who bought casks, bottled and sold the single malt whisky from the distilleries. The distilleries were more interested in supplying bulk spirits for others to bottle/brand in blended whiskies. So it could be said that the indy bottlers are the reason that single malt as a category of spirits, came to be.

Nose: Poached pears, sultanas, unburnt tobacco, with a touch of salt on the nose as well.

Palate: Fruit comes through much richer and darker than on the nose. Those big, red ‘sherry fruit tones’ in abundance, but also some vanilla and buttery notes from those bourbon barrels, some pepper there too – big on the first sip, but settles thereafter.

Finish: Nice hearty and long finish, the pepper presents at the front of my tongue in waves, whilst the stewed fruit seems to sit on my cheeks. That sea-side salty nuance re-appears as well.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say this is a ‘sherry bomb’ – this is much more balanced than that. The buttery, vanilla from the bourbon casks is nicely complimented by the fruity, first-fill sherry cask treatment it had for just shy of 3 years. And I do get the salty maritime influence I’ve always loved from Pulteney whisky. I can only assume that Signatory Vintage have bought the Bourbon barrels aged at Pulteney prior to marrying them in their own sherry butt. The salty notes definitely lead me to believe this is likely!

Date of Distilling: 27/05/2008
Date of Bottling: 16/04/2021

This single malt whisky was distilled in 2008 at the Pulteney Distillery before being placed in refill Bourbon barrels. It was then finished in a fresh Sherry Butt for 33 months. It was bottled in 2021 at 55.8% ABV as part of the Signatory Vintage Cask Strength Collection.

Tasting Notes

Nose: This one smells like Christmas, buttery puff pastry, roasted chestnuts, sweet honey and cinnamon.
Palate: Dried orchard fruits combine with baking spices and salted caramel.
Finish: Toasted nuts, buttery and more baking spices.

About Signatory Vintage

Signatory Vintage are an independent bottler founded in 1988 by Andrew and Brian Symington. The name ‘Signatory’ was derived from the initial intention to find a person of suitable standing to sign the labels for bottles drawn from a single cask. The first cask bottled was a 1968 Glenlivet which quickly sold through long before any suitable signee could be found.

Signatory currently bottle at three strengths: 43%, 46% Un-chill-filtered (UCF) and Cask Strength. To add proof of authenticity to their cask strength bottlings, Signatory always include the cask numbers, date of distillation, date of bottling and number of bottles produced. Signatory Vintage’s aim is to offer as wide a range of whiskies as possible, some of which are not even bottled by the proprietary distillery. This allows malt enthusiast to sample the huge variety of subtle differences that occur between casks.

Founded in 1826 by James Henderson at the height of Wick’s celebrated herring boom, the Pulteney Distillery is one of the most northerly on the British mainland. At a time when road links to the town were yet to be established, the distillery was dependent on the sea for its supply of barley and for the shipping out of its malt whisky. Wick became known for the barrels of silver (herring) and gold (whisky) which left the port in vast numbers. The distillery itself has an absorbing history, with its unique stills defying convention to this day. The wash still, in particular, is a source of fascination to visitors due to the absence of a ‘swan neck’. Legend has it that when the still was delivered it was too tall for the still house and the manager simply decided to cut the top off! The Old Pulteney bottle now incorporates a bulbous neck to reflect the shape of the stills.