Pulteney distillery, known for its whisky labelled Old Pulteney, was once the northernmost whisky distillery on mainland Scotland. However, this title was later taken by Wolfburn and then 8 Doors distillery. The northernmost whisky distillery in Scotland overall is Highland Park. In 1825, James Henderson, who had been distilling illegally in Stemster, moved to Pulteneytown to establish a legitimate whisky distillery. The Henderson family owned it for almost a century until selling it to Jas. Watson of Dundee in 1920. In 1922, Wick town council banned alcohol sales under the influence of an American evangelist, and by 1924, Old Pulteney was sold to John Dewar & Sons, eventually becoming part of DCL. The distillery closed in 1930 due to a market downturn and reopened in 1951, four years after the ban was lifted, when local businessman Robert ‘Bertie’ Cumming bought it. He sold it, along with Balblair, to Hiram Walker in 1955. Following a series of mergers, it became part of Allied Distillers, who sold it to Inver House in 1995 when it was in desperate need of repairs. In 2001, Pacific Spirits acquired Inver House, which was later purchased by Thailand’s International Beverage Holding in 2006. Today, we will sample several Old Pulteney whiskies from the core range, including the 12- and 15-year-old expressions, the 2012 Flotilla, a 2006 Vintage released for Global Travel Retail, and an independent bottling: a 2008 single cask bottled by Daily Dram.
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