On the 25th of August, Old Pulteney launched its special #OldPulteneyTBT operation, honouring incredible sailing achievements in the brand’s history. Today, I’m having a look at the Clipper Commorative limited edition!

The Old Pulteney was one of a fleet of 12 super yachts which departed London on Sunday 1st September 2013 on a year-long voyage around the world, stopping in the northern French port of Brest before continuing on to Rio, Cape Town, Australia, Singapore, Qingdao, San Francisco, Panama, Jamaica, New York and Londonderry – concluded by a homecoming in London in July 2014.

Crafted under the expert eye of Malcolm Waring, Old Pulteney‘s Distillery Manager up in the rugged northern coastal town of Wick, just 2,700 cases of this  expression were made available to international markets. The whisky has been matured in ex American bourbon and ex Spanish sherry casks.

The thrill of the Clipper Race is perfectly captured on the packaging of the new release, with a splash of nautical navy blue and red depicting the Clipper Race boats in action – emblazoned on a pristine white tube which also features the Clipper Race logo.

This limited edition is a NAS bottled at 46% ABV

Nose: a very fruity, juicy & gourmet nose with green apples, banana, pear jam on toast & buttered vanilla – of course, boasting the Old Pultney signature iodine profile, remaining quite subtle though. Kind of a breakfast dram to me (And I would set up my alarm quite early for this kind of breakfast 😀 ). There are also some flowery tones in the background with soft oak and honeycomb notes.

Palate: Still some fruity notes, oven-baked pears with a hint of dark caramel syrup – definitely more powerful that what the nose suggested with also notes of wood spices, white pepper, cereal, molasses & sea breeze (Hello Captain Obvious…). I’m now having my breakfast at a seafront café terrace, you know, exactly like those days when you couldn’t sleep anymore on holiday so decided to go for a refreshing walk by the beach but ended up having a drink while watching joggers sweating out?

Finish: Medium and smooth with notes of salted caramel

Pssst! Find the recipe here!