I swung by the liquor store to pick up two bottles of wine for the weekend. My wife put in the request. I asked her, “Well, what am I drinking?” She said, “Pick yourself up something too, but don’t go nuts.” I figured I’d cap myself at $40 bucks. Maybe $45 and get myself a bottle of Black, but I spent the last month drinking nothing but Black. I was itching for a single malt.

A single malt for under $40 bucks? I give you Old Pulteney 12 year: $39.99.



I’ve heard finding a single malt for under $40 is a hit-or-miss affair. If you’re not careful, you end up with a bottle of paint thinner. Master of Malt gave it a pretty good review, and it had several stars from the readers. So I figured I’d go for it. After all, is there really such a thing as a bad whisky?





The thing that caught my eye was the carton. It looked a lot like Highland Park. I was very surprised when I opened it up to see a round bottle. I was expecting more of a bourbon-shaped bottle like Highland Park. Although, it is a really cool looking bottle.



The ship on the back is a nice touch. They call this the “Maritime Malt” because the distillery is so close to the coast that they say some of that sea air gets in the barrel, giving it a some unique character.



So how is it? It’s actually not terrible. It is a little rough around the edges, but not the paint thinner I was expecting. You can definitely tell it’s a 43% whisky. It’s oaky with some fruits in there too. It’s no Highland Park or Springbank, but it’s reminiscent of those two. As my wife would say, "It has that whisky taste". It’s not a second buy, but it’s definitely a step above the cheapie Speyburn 10-Year Single Malt I purchased a while back.