Port Charlotte New Make
(Distilled 15/10/03, sample drawn 5/5/04)
As expected it had that ‘straight off the still’ pungency with quite a lot of smoky-peat flavours, yet beneath this there was an underlying fruitiness – apples, honeysuckle, all that you would expect from Bruichladdich. A drop of water brought forward its natural oils and smoothness, while subduing its peatiness. I think I can see this being similar to the Bruichladdich links, in so far as it will be a classic Bruichladdich but with a back drop of gentle smoke/peat.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte ‘The Peat Project’ 46%
Bourbon/ Peated to 44ppm
Tasted: Oct 2012
A young and cerealy nose with hints of tar, bog myrtle-peat and rubber. It’s very reminiscent of the 2011 multi-vintage bottling of Port Charlotte, which was just as windswept and coastal. However where that bottling had some bolstering from the oak, this one doesn’t, which makes it appear to be a bit straightforward, but in saying that it is what it is.
The palate follows the nose – very youthful with lightly oiled cereal, opening with the marine-peat before some dry, dusty peat smoke appears. There is a little bit of oak character with some sweet barley and more smoke. Young, un-evolved but unpretentious.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte ‘PC5 Evolution’ 67%
Fresh Sherry/ Peated to 40ppm
Tasted: July 2006
Wow, wow and thrice wow! – This is stunning, loads of luxurious, silky sherry fruit aromas lift from the glass. Complex and inviting with loads of stinky bog myrtle peat, smoke and brine. This has buckets of character with honeyed malt and a cereal note. The palate is equally luscious with honeyed sherry fruit, Bowmore-esque smoky-peat and tangy fruit. This has been matured in casks of the highest quality, no off notes, just luscious, juicy fruit finishing with lazy smoke, coal tar and coastal notes.
Water mellows the sherry intensity on the nose brining out a coffee/ spice note and emphasising the earthiness. Whilst on the palate it brings out a mellow light orange/ apricot and citrus note. Just barely noticeable on the finish is a touch of new make spirit, just to remind you how young it really is, but it is brief and only really noticeable if you have had the opportunity to taste this remarkable spirit in its formative years. It has a lovely length and exits with a mouth filling smokiness.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte PC6 ‘Cuairt Beatha’ 61.1%
Bourbon/ Madeira
Tasted: Nov 2007
A big, rich, Madeira fruit led nose but that is not stopping the phenolic, manure-peat and coastal sprit from asserting itself. Boisterous and farmyard with bog myrtle, camphor and more youthful peat than you can shake a stick at. All the while the Madeira cask gives a lovely biscuit weight to the aromas.
A seriously drying palate, the combination of salty-peat and alcohol sees to that. Seriously intense and mouth-watering with a bedrock of dense dried fruit underlying the rampaging peat, alcohol and salinity. Lovely bitter sweet balance but any malty sweetness pales before then oak, alcohol and salt. Damn it’s good.
With water the nose takes on a sort of rich, Ardbeg character. Less oak now lets the manure-peat show it’s full glory and a touch of rose petatly spirit again reminds you just how young it is. \the plate is considerably sweeter now, but still very manure. The oak and alcohol is tamed and lot less rampaging now so the complexity of the peat flavours can be fully appreciated. Still mouth filling and slightly less bitter in the finish. Awesome!
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte PC8 ‘Ar Duthchas’ 60.5%
Bourbon/ Tasted: Feb 2010
A huge, phenolic beastie of a nose! Rampaging and windswept with salt, medicinal bog myrtle and iodine peat. The coastal astringency roars above the beautiful orange/ tangerine/ lemon fruit. The nose continues evolving with oily rubber, a touch of tar and slightly charred wood joining the complexity of peat notes, and then the wonderfully sweet malt emerges followed by the pure, creamy American oak. As Jim would say an ‘olfactory journey!’
Good grief it’s sooty! It’s like chewing on pure peat briquettes! Oily and dry the peat flavours are incredibly complex, beginning with bog myrtle, bracken, menthol and moving into woody/ loamy pastures. My this is intense, the palate feels like it is being pummelled by the Atlantic ocean as the peat moves into a sooty dénouement. The intensity is of Stagg-esque proportions, and just like the Stagg, you really have to experience this neat. However it’s not all about peat and alcohol, there is a beautiful bedrock of demarara sprinkled maritime fruit and oak.
With the addition of water the nose becomes calmer and gentler. No longer ‘in yer face’. Now the oak shines and is brought forward adding a lovely, sweet butterscotch and dry barley nuance and the fruit takes on a juicy sheen. It does pretty much the same thing on the palate, although the intensity is no longer at 11, the beauty and complexity of the peat journey can be really appreciated. It starts off with a homage to Laphroaig, all medicinal and bog myrtley, becoming more tarry and sooty towards the finish, and boy does that finish last.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte PC10 ‘Tro Na Linntean’ 59.8%
Bourbon/ Tasted: Jan 2013
What a nose! The senses are assailed by an intensity of bog myrtle-peat along with an astringent brininess. It’s so intense its making my nose hairs stand on end! Gently sweet apple, pineapple, guava and melon can be detected along with some slightly sweet barley. The oak adds a hint of creamy vanilla and cocoa, but it’s all about the herbal, bog myrtle peat. Damn that’s good!
The palate opens with a wave of forceful brine, alcohol and bog myrtle-peat. Followed by the wood notes and some succulent barley. The middle is very dusty with the peat flavours becoming more woody. There is no rest bite from the surging coastal character and the finish just keeps going and going with the lightly oiled peat dust and wood ember notes lingering.
A drop of water enhances the herbal complexity and shifts the emphasis on to the citrus notes and brings out a damp, earthy, oily, soot peat character. Likewise on the palate, the peat intensity is softened to allow the sweet barley and citrus notes to show. Again more herbal but still intensely coastal and fresh. All I can say is that Port Charlotte is still a wild beastie!
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte ‘Heavily Peated’ 10 year old 46%
Bourbon. Peated to 40ppm
Tasted: Jan 2013
The nose is quite briny and phenolic with plenty of bog myrtle infused peat. Definitely not one-dimensional as it displays plenty of apples, honeysuckle, barley and fresh coastal notes. Good depth and certainly not a rampaging beastie like the PC10!
The palate is again gentle with a sooty-peat demeanour along with hints of bog myrtle and herbs. The middle displays a lovely barley sweetness and the peat becomes slightly medicinal in character. Very long and very salty, so add in a light bittering from the oak and the finish is pretty dry.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10 year old (Second Edition) 50%
First Fill American oak, Sherry, Tempranillo and French Wine casks
Tasted: Dec 2016
Expressive and coastally fruity nose with coffee coated peat, medicinal peat, earth and underlying barley and vanilla. Beautiful intensity and balance with hints of lime, greengage, green apple and herbs.
Fresh and citric, opening with a lovely barley sweetness before the coffee’d and medicinal peat arrives. Gently malty with baked fruit, salt and subtle herbal notes on the middle. Long and continuing citric and peaty with and elegant, salty, liquorice and dry spice finish.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte ‘First Edition Bottling’ 46%
Tasted: Mar 2011
A crisp, briny and peaty nose. It puts me in mind of a young, moderately peated Caol Ila – wonderfully fresh and coastally! The up pops some sugar sprinkled orange, citrus rind and as the aromas unfold some rubber and burnt wood aromas emerge and finally some creamy oak. The peat is quite dry and crumbly, almost dusty in character and quite gentle unlike say the PC8 which was visceral in its intensity.
The palate is soft and quite sooty to begin with. There is a suggestion of apricot and orange fruit and a lovely rounded depth. The dry peat arrives with elegance on the middle with a lovely complexity of dry, earthy layers. Good length with hints of honeyed citrus returning and some bitter oak, salinity and herbal nuances. Quite an oily after taste.
Very charming and civilised but I miss the rampant intensity of previous bottlings.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 50%
Batch No: 18/013?
Tasted: Apr 2018
Aromas of dusty, earthy peat, liquorice, dark honey, salt, chocolate and a touch of medicinal peat and bog myrtle. Some lovely, sweet barley sits beneath and with time the natural oils begin to assert themselves and hints of dried sherry(?) fruit, soy sauce, coffee and burnt driftwood appear.
The palate opens with the sweet-ish barley, toffee and coffee, followed by salt, earthy peat and a touch of what appears to be winey red fruit. Broad and oily with the coastal character really building on the middle, as does a little dried sherried fruit, treacle and tar. Intense, salty, meaty, soy sauce, bbq smoke, pepper, coffee and sherrywood or possibly French oak tannins on the finish.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte ‘Scottish Barley’ 50%
Peated to 40ppm/ Tasted: Sept 2013
A very clean nose of crisp white fruit and bon myrtle plus both earthy-peat and coastal-peat. Give it some time it begins to flesh out with some sweet barley, vanilla and apricot, with the barley showing a slight gristiness. Quite elegant with developing notes of creosote, tar, smoked fish and burnt wood. Very complex and evolving.
The palate opens with the sweet barley and apricot followed by some lightly coffee’d tannins and burnt wood. The loamy, earthy-peat builds and becomes rather smoky on the middle. Waves of brine peat follow with a light floral note and vanilla note appearing. Very long, dusty finish with a touch of violet and honeysuckle in amongst the drying salt. Although it may be relatively heavily peated, it still has elegance and class.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte ‘Islay Barley’ 50%
Tasted: Apr 2015
The nose displays dense barley and oily, phenolic peat with a touch of brine. In fact it becomes exceedingly oily which smother any further development. Water brings out a light woody note.
The palate is unsurprisingly oily and viscous with lightly phenolic peat, bog myrtle and lubricious vanilla notes. Add in the alcohol and the palate is really not that forthcoming! Water unfortunately makes it a tad vague but a little sweeter. Neat, the finish is short and hot with lingering oily peat. Diluted – longer and sweeter with a pleasant barley’d finish. In conclusion: A little too oily for its own good one thinks.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte ‘Islay Barley’ 2011 (6 year old) 50%
Barley from Dunlossit, Kilchiaran & Sunderland farms
Dist: 2011 Btl: 2018/ Tasted: Aug 2018
A maurey and peaty nose with balancing sweet barley, coffee, cereal and hints of honeysuckle, vanilla, herbal peat, moss and subtle creosote notes. Fabulously balanced!
The palate opens with the sweet barley, coffee, herbal peat, manure and vanilla. Like the nose it displays a lovely balance with some bittering oak and possibly sherried dried fruit on the middle. Superb intensity with a grippy, medicinal, sinus clearing peaty finish with lingering coastal notes and mouth-watering spice.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte MRC:01 2010 (7 year old) 59.2%
40 PPM
50% First Fill American oak/ 50% Second Fill French Red Wine – vated and finished in ex-left bank red Bordeaux casks for 1 year.
Dist: 2010 Btl: 2018/ Tasted: Nov 2018
A lovely mellow and woody nose with a distinct French oak grainy tannic character. Hints of vanilla, medicinal peat, red fruit, leather, earth and dry peat smoke emerge. With time a smidge of coconut, black pepper and dark chocolate.
The palate is soft and mellow, with dried redcurrant/ cherry, earth, medicinal peat and like the nose a distinct grainy French oak character. The alcohol although quite high is impeccably contained by the weight of the spirit. Very complex and mouth-filling with treacle, tar, dark chocolate, dry peat and gritty peat smoke. Long and medicinal with lingering menthol, bog myrtle and tar.
Water makes the nose slightly oilier and waxy. It’s less woody with more emphasis on the dried fruit. Subtler peat notes as well. It also emphasises the dried red fruit and earth on the palate. Still quite medicinal and sinus cleansing but the peat is drier and dustier.
Bruichladdich – The Port Charlotte 10 50%
65% First Fill American Whisky casks, 10% Second Fill American Whisky casks and 25% Second Fill French Red Wine casks.
Tasted: June 2018
A briny and peaty nose with sweet barley, grilled nuts, menthol, dunnage, coffee and hints of dried winey red fruit. It might be heavily peated and the peat becomes increasingly manurey but the balance is very impressive.
The palate opens with the dusty, sooty peat with hints of dried prune, raisin, raspberry and a touch of bitter chocolaty tannins. The heavy, oily and tarry peat arrives on the middle along with subtle salt, coffee, fish oils and briny notes. The winey notes return on the finish with the coffee, dark chocolate and earthy peat notes lingering. Rounded and very impressive.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 2001 (currently 12 years old) 61.2%
Mouton Rothchild cask – Jim McEwan family cask for the 2013 Feis Ila.
Tasted: Nov 2013
A very intense and meaty nose all liberally coated in bbq sauce! The herbal-peat begins to break through the syrupy spicy red fruits bringing a fairly intense medicinal note with it. It’s definitely a battle royal between the caks and the spirit but I can amazingly detect some of the classic ‘laddie honeysuckle character. Only very lightly coastal with hints of coffee, wood resin and herbal smoke smoke.
The palate is quite soft, given the high abv, again opening with the bbq meat and sauce notes from the nose. Full and rich with plumy red fruit, syrup and sweet, meaty peat smoke. The alcohol comes through on the middle but the syrup holds it in check. Very long with the meat smoke returning along with a light parma violet note and lingering spicy red fruit. Stunning stuff!
Dilution definitely emphasises the cask with its tight, herbal tannins along with some elemental peat notes. Still quite earthy, but that peat is being held in a winey glove, but I’m not getting much of the bbq smoke now. The palate is also displaying more of the syrup coated red wine character with just a suggestion of bbq meat smoke and sweet peat. However it’s very mouth-filling and herbal with some lingering sweet violet notes. Finally some briny notes come through with a touch of dusty-peat and dark chocolate in the finish.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 2003 (16 year old) ‘Digital Feis Islay 2020’ 55.8%
Cask 1042/ Peated to 30PPM
1 parcel of Refill Hogsheads re-casked into First Fill Bourbon Barrels in 2012
1 parcel of First Fill Bourbon re-casked into ex-Sauternes in 2013
1 parcel of a vatting of ex-Sherry, Bourbon and Virgin Oak.
Dist: 2003 Btl: 2020/ Tasted: Aug 2020
A pungent and earthy nose with slightly woody peat and hints of menthol, bog myrtle, fleshy apricot and barley. Beautifully balanced with peony, hyacinth, dried fruit and creamy vanilla. The Sauternes cask notes of winey honey come through quite powerfully with time.
The palate opens with mature barley and woody peat, followed by subtle sherried dried fruit, liquorice, sweet apricot and honey. Like on the nose the Sauternes cask notes really come through but don’t dominate. Hints of lightly herbal and sweeter peat emerge on the middle. Long, honeyed, and spicy dried fruit with a touch of vanilla, grippy new oak tannins and meaty malt.
Whisky According to Chris Whiskyman 