The Old Pulteney Clipper was created as a tribute to the team that crewed their yacht, which was captained by Patrick van der Zijden, in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. This race is pretty intense and involves going around the entire world which is a round trip of 40,000 nautical miles and takes nearly 8 months to do the entire thing.
It’s an intense and brutal event that anyone can join, so long as you can pay your crew fee, and honestly has me thinking about doing it now that I’ve read up on it. Of course being at sea for about a month straight for a single leg does mean leaving the whisky at home, but when you’re out in the middle of the ocean there are bigger things to worry about I’m sure.
Old Pulteney Clipper Review
Distiller: Old Pulteney
Age: NAS
ABV: 46%
Price: $46*
EYE
Gold
NOSE
Banana and apple heavy fruit kick things off followed by notes of caramel, vanilla, honeycomb and a bit of minerality. There are some light floral notes, light saline, spirit and citrus.
PALATE
Fruity and biscuity with notes of caramel, vanilla, malt, citrus and a touch of honey. That same spirity nature from the nose comes in here a bit and mixes with a corn bread like sweetness that moves along the palate.
FINISH
Medium fade of malt, fruit and a slight nuttiness.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Nothing major knocking it off balance with a medium body and a smooth texture.
OVERALL
It’s alright. The Old Pulteney Clipper smells and tastes a bit young, but it has some nice fruity aspects to it that give an interesting reflection against the more youthful aspects and a bit of sweetness riding below that rounds things out a bit. Though if it was between this and the Old Pulteney 12 I’d take the 12. This is a neat commemorative item, but not exactly what I’m looking for in a daily drinker.
SCORE: 81/100
*Disclosure: This bottle of Old Pulteney Clipper was graciously sent to me by the company for the purposes of this review. The views, opinions, and tasting notes are 100% my own.
I know this is an old review but I noticed that a liquor chain near me has put this on sale for $29.99 and so I was looking up some reviews. Since it is NAS, I was assuming that it was on the young side and your review has c0nfirmed that. One question though, you listed the abv at 43% in your review, but the pictures of the bottle that I have seen, including the one above your review, show 46%. Was the bottle mislabeled? Do you think it’s worth thirty bucks or should I just forget about it?
Hey Jeff, thanks for pointing that out, it was a typo – fixed. I don’t think it’s worth $30, I’d rather spend a tiny bit more and get something like the Glenmo Original.