Old Pulteney Navigator is a recently released No Age Statement malt which combines whisky matured in both bourbon and sherry oak. The reviewed bottle was opened 18 days ago, sampled then and sampled from a decanted sample from that bottle today
Nose: with just 18 days of air time, perfumed and floral sherry is very noticeable in the nose, together with the typical Old Pulteney significant brine, and the standard Old Pulteney underlying base malt. This is a little different than the 12, 17, or 21 yo Old Pulteneys. Different in what ways? I would say that this is more winey and perfumed than Old Pulteney 12 yo, and not as lush as is the 17 or 21 yo. Despite the floral and perfumed lushness, there remains an astringent sour quality to this Navigator's nose, which I find to be an interesting balance. As with Old Pulteney 12 or 17 yo there is peat here, but it is rather subtle. With water the flavours fuse together, and become quite coherent. I like this nose with water
Taste: the nose flavours do translate to the palate with very sharp barley in evidence, showing significant citrus flavours only hinted at in the nose. There is a strong honeyed sweet balance to the sharp and tart barley, and mid-palate this migrates strongly to the sour side. With water, as with the nose, the flavours fuse, and are quite different than without the water added. Sourness is reduced, but the vividness of the individual flavours is diminished
Finish: long, losing the sweetness and wine flavours in the medium term, becoming increasingly briney and sour, and finishing on a sour note. The death is overwhelmingly sour. With water the finish is softened, less noticeably briney, and less sour
Balance: there is an interesting and unusual sort of balance during most of the tasting experience. The finish ends on a completely unbalanced sourness. I like this Navigator, as I do the other Old Pulteneys I have sampled. This one is a little different, but I consider it an interesting change of pace. Compared with the 12 yo at 43% abv, this has more flavour intensity, but is not as coherent or balanced in its flavours. Navigator lacks the finesse and balance of both the Old Pulteney 17 yo and the Old Pulteney 21 yo
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