Old Pulteney 21 Year Old

★★★★★

Score: 86/100

I had the opportunity to taste the Old Pulteney 21 Year Old, and given this was a small sample, I will keep this review short.

Within the first few whiffs of this whisky I knew that it was very special. It burst with character. On the  nose it released dark chocolate and fudge topped with shavings of orange zest and a few dashes of vanilla essence, that the oak would moderate this sweetness with a bitterness that seemed to gel everything together. On the palate the character on the nose danced on the tongue, and the lovely milky texture of the whisky released bursts of salted caramel with that dense fudge and sharp zest. The zest was fresh and bright, almost like the freshly peeled skin of an orange or mandarin shining with an acidic citrus glow.

Named world whisky of the year in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2012, and awarded a staggering 97.5 points in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2013, this whisky should dance on the tongue like Angel's bestowing on me their heavenly charm. It doesn't. It is VERY good. It is a beautiful whisky with complexity and a magnificent texture, but it did not strike me as any better than some other beautiful whiskies I have had the opportunity to taste and review.If it was indeed the world's best whisky, I expected that fact to hit me like a tonne of bricks.