.port charlotte - pc8 - ar duthchas

In a series of cask strength releases, this eight year old Port Charlotte is from a batch of 30000 bottles, bottled in 2011, matured in ex-American Oak casks.

.port charlotte - cc:01

Designed for the Global Travel Retail market, so this Port Charlotte is only available next time you take a flight, and not via any other channels. Another heavily peated, Islay worthy whisky, with a full time maturation in French ex-Eau de Vie casks from the Western Cognac region.

.port charlotte - 10yo - the maltman

From the lovely Bruichladdich distillery on the gorgeous isle of Islay, comes this Port Charlotte, cared for and bottled by the nice people of the Maltman.

.port charlotte - 2001-2014 - the maltman - #846

We do not see very often that an independent bottler releases a whisky from the Bruichladdich distillery, simply because the distillery hardly ever sells a cask. Every now and then - if you are lucky, you can find a bottle that does not have the official, contemporary label on the bottle, but nevertheless is a distillate from the Progressive Hebridean Distillers that somehow slipped through the nets and found its way into the arms of an independent party that decided to cherish the spirit and bottle it on their own terms, at the right time.

This edition of their heavily peated Port Charlotte has been caressed for the past twelve years by our friends at Meadowside blending who bottled it as one of their own, in their "the Maltman" single cask series.

.port charlotte - islay barley - 2008

"Port Charlotte Islay Barley represents a milestone. For the first time, perhaps in the island history, a heavily peated single malt has been distilled using Islay grown barley. The wind-driven rain that lashes Islay's fields, and the Atlantic air breathed by the casks as they mature by the shores of Loch Indaal, gives the whisky its signature salty, citrus tang." Let's see for ourselves...

.port charlotte - 9yo - smws 127.37

"Dinosaurs dancing to Stravinsky" it says on the bottle. I get that. There is charcoal you would want to dance with...

.port charlotte - scottish barley

50% abv, €60, single malt, non-chill filtered, natural colour

Nose: fruit, smoke, salt, melon wrapped with ham, citrus, grapefruit, caramel, fresh air, eucalyptus
Palate: sweet, fruit, grapes, citrus, grapefruit,, dry white wine, rosemary, lavender, barley, hay, cereal
Finish: smoky, dry, long, sweet, fruit, melon, apples
Mark: +++++

Conclusion: nice one again, although she is a bit steep on the price.

More info: This was dram three during a twitter tasting with four surprise 20cl samples of the new 2013 core range from Bruichladdich, who also hold the Port Charlotte and Octomore brand names.

from the website: Peated to a heavyweight 40ppm, Port Charlotte - Scottish Barley is a cuvee crafted from casks hand-picked by master distiller Jim McEwan. It showcases the supreme elegance of this remarkable single malt - a union of the classic floral elegance of Bruichladdich and heavy peat. 

This whisky is testament to our belief that raw ingredients matter. Trickle distilled from 100% Scottish Barley the spirit gently matures in the Lochside village of Port Charlotte before being bottled here at the distillery using Islay spring water.

.port charlotte - the peat project

46% abv, €40, single malt, non-chill filtered, natural color

Nose: smoke, sweet, vanilla, barbecue, briny, mussels, floral, heather, cinnamon, citrus, lime, fresh salmon
Palate: sweet, smoked salmon, spicy, white pepper, fat, butter
Finish: peat-smoke, white pepper, smoked salmon, citrus, oranges
Mark: +++++

Conclusion: Great peaty dram. It is a bit average on the peatsmoke, but there is a lot complexity to find, other then the peat. Quite nice to find the smoke salmon (I have found that before in a Bruichladdich - Octomore), but I can imagine that it might be a turnoff too.
I wish I had some left in the bottle, so I could taste it again, but sadly it is completely done.

.bruichladdich - port charlotte - jim's cask

61,2% abv, single malt, non-chill filtered, natural color

Nose: obviously there is some peat, smoke and bacon and fresh fruits, and it is surprisingly gentle and doesn't give you any hint that is actually this high on alcohol.
Palate: dry, with smoked bacon, firm and sweet, breakfast cereals and raisins, lots of raisins.
Finish: sweet, firm and dry, never-ending
Mark: +++++
Conclusion: I would love to get a bottle of this, but other then being adopted by Jim's family I recon there is little to no chance to obtain one. I should have put it in a flask of some sort and taste it another time...

More info: exclusively matured in Mouton Rothschild wine casks. It is distilled in 2001 and will never be released since it is a cask that belongs to Jim McEwan and his family to keep for 21 years.
Confusingly, I understood from another source that this is a ten years old Port Charlotte but it has first matured in ex-Bourbon for eight years, before being ACE'd on ex-Mouton Rothschild casks... we'll never know for sure.

Whatever the truth, they have my blessing to bottle this and give it to me in small quantities of say, one bottle per year, having aged just that year each time.

I hope Bruichladdich takes hints...

Tasting note created during Jim McEwan's masterclass on Feis Ile 2013

.port charlotte - 2001-2013 - malts of scotland

.lovely

abv: 63,3%
type: single malt
fles: 70cl, €86,- geproefd tijdens Hielander whisky festival gold masterclass 2013
filtratie: niet koud gefilterd
karamel E150a: niet toegevoegd

neus: turf, hout, zoethout
smaak: zoet, honing, heidebloemen, pittig als witte peper
afdronk: lang, pittig, rook
score: +++++
conclusie: Een Port Charlotte zoals we ze gewend zijn. Goed vol van rook en turf, met zoete geuren en smaken. Heerlijk.

.port charlotte website