Lighthouse Series: Old Pulteney Duncansby Head

Duncansby Head, courtesy of foxypar4

Following on from the Old Pulteney Noss Head we've got the second in the travel retail series, but this time moving up a few pounds and introducing some sherry casks.

Duncansby Head (RRP £45)

Once more the dram is 46%, un-chillfiltered and with no added colouring. Slightly more colour than the Noss Head and that probably means a sherry influence. I'm told the 

Nose:- Right away there is that sherry effect. Mixed fruits, raspberries, a kind of salty fizz, caramel and a waft of honey

Nose quickly settles down and softens with creamy vanilla and citrus notes

Taste:- Oaky spice, some fruits I can't quite pick out, but a drop of water really helps them come out.
Honey, sweet vanilla and increasingly bitter as the whisky goes down.

Finish:- That bitterness holds throughout and recedes nicely to leave a warm sweetness on the palate.

A very pleasant dram, personally I prefer the sweet simplicity of the Noss Head. I'm not sure if this whisky feels as whole, but looking forward to moving onto to the full on sherry Pentland Skerries next where we should see the full effect of the sherry on the whisky.

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Thanks again to Alembic Comms who organised the tweet tasting. Find what others thought of the Lighthouse series by looking up #OldPulteney on twitter

Lighthouse Series: Old Pulteney Noss Head

Noss Head, Credit: HJSP82

The Old Pulteney Lighthouse Series is a new set of travel retail only whisky bottlings from Old Pulteney and to start with it's worth giving them credit for the price points; £40, £45, and £55 for 1L bottles. Obviously there's cheaper whisky out there, but it's a nice change to see a reasonably priced travel retail set not aimed at those with corporate accounts and second homes. Still it needs to taste good, so let's get to it!

Noss Head (RRP £40)

46%, un-chillfiltered and with no added colouring, it's a lovely straw colour in the bottle and overall quite a light coloured whisky. You can tell this isn't going to be a sherried dram right away, but that's no bad thing

Nose:- Light citrus, sherbet and buttercream. (I love butter cream).

There's a fair breeze coming from the window that's making it hard to discern more. On the whole it's a very pleasant nose, not overly complex, but not a boring - malt, vanilla, vanilla - nose you get with some basic whisky.

As time progresses I can smell a lovely, yet light, fruitiness.

Taste:- Fizzy lemons, vanilla, faintest hint of orange.. orange bitters?

Finish:- Very much like the nose & initial taste.

A slightly spicy finish quickly recedes to leave a nice lingering sweetness. 

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On the whole this is a very nice, gentle and sweet dram. While it comes with no age statement the whisky is not overly harsh to drink. I would definitely consider picking up a bottle of this, £40 for a 1 litre bottle works out at ~£28 for a 70cl which would be a good price for this.

My non-whisky drinking partner actually quite enjoyed nosing and sipping a tiny drop of this whisky, which says something!

Thanks to Alembic Comms for the samples as part of the 14/8 Old Pulteney lighthouse series twitter tasting!