New Port Charlotte 10 & Islay Barley Whisky Reviews!

I've been a big fan of Bruichladdich's heavily-peated Port Charlotte range for quite some time, since trying the excellent PC7 cask strength expression around five years ago (and I was lucky to find it!). Talk about jumping into the deep end! Since those early days I've loved all of the Port Charlottes that I've come across, some more than others of course, but the label does seem to get a little lost in the crowd in the peated Islay whisky sector. It doesn't have the immediate brand recognition of Laphroaig, Lagavulin or Ardbeg, even among the more serious peat-heads, and I'd say that one of the limiting factors is the excellent quality & success of Octomore, Bruichladdich's super-heavily peated range. Which makes Port Charlotte something of a middle child, stuck between the massively-peated Octomore and the un-peated Bruichladdich whiskies.

Of course Bruichladdich are aware of this, and not being one to sit on their laurels, they've recently taken the bull by the horns and re-launched the Port Charlotte brand. Port Charlotte was always packaged in the same bottles as the namesake Bruichladdich bottlings, carrying very similar labels & designs including those on the outer tins, which wasn't helping the 40 ppm peated Port Charlotte stand out. So they've come up with a new bottle design, including going from clear to dark green-coloured glass, which is more inline with the other Islay staples, and also making sure that the beautiful, but often pale, natural colour doesn't alienate any of the (perhaps less discerning) potential buyers out there. I do like the new design, it has something of a military feel to it in my book - maybe smoke grenades, which is appropriate -  and they're chunkier and more solid in feel as well. The labels and outer tins haven't changed, and you'll find just as much information printed on them as always. Plus the liquid inside is just as good as it's always been, which of course is the main thing!

 Out with the old (L), and in with the new (R)!

The new Port Charlotte bottles actually debuted in June this year at Feis Ile (the Islay festival) with two distillery-exclusive expressions, and a couple of the hand-filled Valinch / Cask Exploration bottlings since, but these two new expressions are the first of the general releases to feature the new design. The two new general releases that I'm looking at today are Port Charlotte 10-year old, which is now a permanent expression (unlike the last two versions and the cask strength PC10), and Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2011 vintage. I was lucky enough to attend the recent Brisbane trade launch of these two new whiskies, which was hosted by Chloe Wood, Bruichladdich's amazing brand ambassador for the Asia Pacific region (based in Singapore), along with Mark Hickey & Casey Gray from Spirits Platform, Bruichladdich's importer & distributor for Australia. Chloe's knowledge of every facet of the distillery was fantastic, and being an Ileach (Islay native) and having worked at Bruichladdich herself, it was all first-hand. It was also great to see this sort of event happen in Brisbane, when we'd normally be passed over in favour of the bright lights of Sydney and/or Melbourne. I was also lucky / sneaky enough to get a couple of samples of both of these new Port Charlottes to review in detail, so let's get to it!

We'll start with the 10-year old, a new permanent Port Charlotte edition at that age. The delicious original Port Charlotte 10-year old (reviewed here) was first released in early 2012 under the reign of the legendary Jim McEwan, and was a 60/40 split of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, bottled at 46%. So not to be confused with the far rarer and more limited PC10, which was bottled at cask strength as the sixth release in the "PC_" series. Both of those were landmark bottlings, since they marked the "coming of age" of the Port Charlotte spirit that was first distilled in May 2001, soon after the distillery's revival. That original 10-year old was intended to be a permanent expression at the time of release, but the stock & production couldn't keep up, and it was discontinued. It was followed by the "second edition" Port Charlotte 10-year old in late 2016, which saw the bottling strength increase to 50% ABV at the same time as the standard strength of the Bruichladdich line-up. That one had an interesting cask profile, being matured in first-fill ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, Spanish and French red wine casks, and it was a limited run of 18,000 bottles, released alongside the Bruichladdich & Octomore 10-year old second editions.

Which brings us to the new permanent addition, simply named Port Charlotte 10. This one is actually replacing the current entry-level Port Charlotte whisky, the NAS (multi-vintage in Bruichladdich speak) Port Charlotte Scottish Barley, and it's slated to arrive in Australia in late October / early November this year, at an RRP of around $115-120 AUD. It's still made from 100% Scottish barley, and has been matured in 65% first-fill ex-bourbon casks, 10% second-fill ex-bourbon casks, and 25% second hill un-named French red wine casks, before being bottled at 50% ABV, without any added colouring or chill filtration. Which is a pretty good resume for an entry-level expression! Tasting time...

Port Charlotte 10 (year old), 50% ABV. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled from Scottish barley peated to 40 ppm, matured in 65% first-fill ex-bourbon, 10% second-fill ex-bourbon, and 25% second-fill French wine casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Fresh & bright, very Bruichladdich in ts overall style, with a lovely soft, dry, crumbly peat, light brine, some banana cream and a touch of pineapple. Lovely toasted oak and a little mint, citrus rind, a couple of dried strawberries and some pastry dough.

Texture: Lovely. Creamy and soft, medium weight, and no heat at all.

Taste: The lovely crumbly and soft peat again, with that pastry dough and fresh citrus around the edges. A nice touch of sea salt and a little butterscotch. Creamy vanilla and coconut, and a little mashed banana, with a flash of dry wood smoke behind.

Finish: Medium length. Toasted coconut and creamy vanilla, with a light briny undercurrent. The dry peat returns plus a little ash, and a lovely creamy smoky citrus like a burnt lemon meringue.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: Very nice stuff! So soft and balanced, even at 50% ABV. Bright and inviting on the nose, and so creamy on the palate, with no off-notes whatsoever. Very easy drinking as well with no heat or harshness. It's not a big peaty bruiser like some other 10-year old Islays, this is a very approachable and comforting dram with loads of character. It's hard to fathom that this is now the entry-level Port Charlotte! Excellent value for money as well. Sign me up now.

Next up, Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2011! Being a "vintage" release this is obviously a limited bottling, and is the second Port Charlotte release that was distilled from Islay barley. The previous iteration, the fantastic 2008 vintage, was packaged in a white outer tin, was distilled from Oxbridge and Optic barley that was grown on six different farms on Islay, and was matured in ex-bourbon casks for around seven years prior to bottling at 50% ABV. This new release is packaged in a light grey outer tin (I believe the Valinch bottlings now get the white tins), and was distilled from Oxbridge and Publican barley that was grown on three different farms on Islay, but the cask profile is quite different on this one. It was matured for around seven years in 25% first-fill ex-bourbon casks, and 75% second-fill wine casks, of the Syrah and Merlot varieties. Those are both relatively heavy red wines, but being second-fill casks, and being a young whisky, we shouldn't expect a massive wine influence in this one. Islay Barley 2011 has already landed in Australia, and is being distributed as we speak, with an RRP of around $115 AUD. Islay-grown barley now makes up a third of Bruchladdich's annual barley requirements, which is great to see!

Port Charlotte Islay Barley 2011, NAS, 50%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled from Islay barley peated to 40 ppm, matured in 75% first-fill ex-bourbon casks & 25% second-fill ex-red wine casks, around 6 years old. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Richer and heavier, but still bright and inviting. Oily putty, like a dark gritty gap-filler, some sweet citrus (lemon) and warm sandy beaches. A nice light minerality, like wet stone or damp clay, and a nice creamy white chocolate.

Texture: Oh yes. Medium-heavy weight, rich and lightly oily. No heat at all.

Taste: Rich and peaty, a nice dry peat with some wood ash mixed in. Sweet citrus again, a touch of mixed berry jam, fresh tar, some white pepper, and more of the damp clay and that oily putty.

Finish: Medium length. Peaches & cream, sweet citrus again, more damp earthy clay and a nice dry peatyness that surges & fades. Some salty driftwood and ashy wood smoke, and a lovely golden barley pokes through!

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: Love this dram. Again it's very drinkable for what is a very young whisky, especially at 50% ABV, and I doubt that you'd guess it to be just six-ish years old. It's definitely more peat-forward and perhaps less complex, and it's also less expressive on the nose than the 10 year old, but if you like your peat you'll dig (pun intended) this one. It's definitely very different to the last Port Charlotte Islay Barley as well, which is no doubt down to those second-fill wine casks. It's still quite a light, clean and easy-drinking malt for what is a 40 ppm (on the barley) whisky at six years of age and 50%. Which of course is the beauty of Bruichladdich!

Overall notes: Well, both of these Port Charlottes were just added to my "buy" list. Both are of excellent quality, they're full of character with plenty of interesting new notes to discover, but the 'laddie DNA is still present in both of these whiskies. If I had to pick an outright winner it would obviously be the Islay Barley, but you can't go wrong with either of these really. The 10 is softer and more rounded, as you'd expect, and the nose is definitely more expressive on that one, but the palate and finish on the younger Ileach are just delicious. Both will offer excellent value for money as well, particularly when you consider the higher strengths, natural presentations and the provenance, in 'laddie speak, that they offer. I love pretty much everything that Bruichladdich do these days, and that doesn't seem likely to change in the future.

Along with the re-launch and these two new Port Charlottes, there's also a new and very exciting travel-exclusive Marsala cask expression coming, dubbed MC01 (Marsala Cask 01), which will replace the excellent CC01 Cognac cask bottling, and a limited wine cask finished expression, dubbed MRC01. It just so happens that the Port Charlotte cask that was offered at the distillery's warehouse experience that I attended last year was matured in a similar wine cask, and it was absolutely fantastic, in fact it even overshadowed the 11-year old Octomore that followed it! So I have high hopes for MRC01 as well. I think we can expect even bigger things from Port Charlotte in future, and I'm looking forward to tasting those things!

A big thanks to Mark & Casey from Spirits Platform and Chloe Wood from Bruichladdich for having me at the very informative launch event, and of course for the samples, and an extra thanks to the people at Bruichladdich for continuing to bring us excellent quality whisky. We all love you for it. 

Cheers!