Old Pulteney 1984 SMWS 18 Year Old 52.17

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) was founded in 1983 by a group of friends lead by tax accountant Phillip ‘Pip’ Hills as a private members club. The concept behind the society was to source casks from all over Scotland which would then be bottled and made available exclusively to its members. Perhaps the most famous feature of these bottles are the unique codes. Each distillery is represented by a different number and the following digits indicate that particular release. That same year, the SMWS set up its first location in Leith’s Vault buildings in Edinburgh where it still stands today.

The Pulteney distillery in Wick was built in 1826, and for a long time was the northernmost distillery on the Scottish mainland. Acquired by John Dewar & Sons in 1924, the distillery was quickly forced to close down in 1930, as Prohibition in its hometown was enacted to attempt to curb drunkenness among its maritime society. When it re-opened in 1955, the majority of its output was reserved for blending, although Gordon & MacPhail were licensed to bottle a single malt by Hiram Walker. Its single malt was known as "Old Pulteney" on their labels, and this tradition remained when Inver House, who acquired the distillery in 1995, released Pulteney's first distillery bottlings.