Octomore Farm 9 Year Old Whisky Review!

A private (and technically independent) single cask bottling of 9-year old Octomore! This should be very interesting!

I say technically independent, because this whisky was still distilled, matured and bottled at Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, so it's more of a private bottling than a typical independent bottling. What we have here is a single cask Octomore, named after James Brown's Octomore farm where the Islay-grown barley used for the _.3 expressions comes from, and where the water source for Octomore is located. The farm is a couple of miles south of the distillery in the village of Port Charlotte, which is also where the old Loch Indaal Distillery warehouses, owned & used by Bruichladdich, are located. As you can probably guess these casks are owned by James Brown himself (the Islay farmer, not the soul singer!), and they're sold & distributed by Derek Mather, the owner of Artisan restaurant in Wishaw (south of Glasgow) and a die-hard Bruichladdich fanatic. As far as I can find there have only been a few bottlings of Octomore Farm released, all single casks at cask strength, and all from ex-bourbon casks, and you'll find a bottling of Bruichladdich's 50 ppm spirit, named LochIndaal and basically never seen as an official bottling, under the same name. Bruichladdich officially bottle three different single malts, the un-peated Bruichladdich, the heavily-peated (40 ppm) Port Charlotte, and the super-heavily peated Octomore. But if you dig further into the independent and more obscure official bottlings you'll also find the LochIndaal spirit which is slightly more heavily peated than the heavily peated Port Charlottes. As far as I'm aware, aside from a mysterious 'Futures' bottling and a single distillery-exclusive Valinch bottling, all other Lochindaal bottlings have been private casks or independent bottlings. Forgive the digression there, let's get back to it!

Octomore typically uses super-heavily peated malted barley sourced from Bairds Maltings in Inverness, although the Octomore _.3 expressions (there have been four bottlings to date) have used Islay-grown barley which is transported to Inverness for malting, and sent back to Bruichladdich to make Octomore. Each batch of malt varies in it's peaty-ness, with the highest so far measuring in at a whopping 309.1 ppm which was responsible for the delicious Octomore 8.3. The second highest was the original Islay barley Octomore, the fantastic 6.3 that weighed in at 258 ppm and was released back in late 2014. That little beauty is still my favourite Octomore bottling to date, and it just so happens that the Octomore Farm bottling we're looking at today was distilled from that same batch of Octomore Farm-grown barley, peated to that same huge number of 258 ppm measured on the malt. It was also distilled in the same year (and probably the same distillation runs) in 2009, but rather than being bottled at 5 years of age it was left sleeping in it's single bourbon barrel-home for a further four years, before being bottled in 2018. That little factoid is also very exciting, because during the Bruichladdich warehouse tasting that I attended on my second Islay pilgrimage in 2018 one of the three casks tasted was an Octomore 6.3 'remnant' that had been left in the cask for nine years, and it was absolutely incredible. Quite possibly the best Octomore that I've ever tasted, in fact. On paper this private bottling should be along those same lines, so I have very high hopes for this one!

So, this Octomore Farm private bottling is a 9-year old single ex-bourbon cask, distilled from Islay barley peated to 258 ppm, and bottled at a cask strength of 61.8%. Being a Bruichladdich product (kind of) it is of course non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. The sample for this review came from a fellow whisky nerd who ordered a bottle of this very rare whisky while living in Europe, and was generous enough to share it on a recent trip back to Australia. Exciting stuff!

Octomore Farm 9-year old Octomore private bottling, 61.8%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled Feb 2009 from Islay barley peated to 258 ppm, matured in single ex-bourbon barrel #336, bottled Mar 2018. Cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Medium-gold.

Nose: Interesting! It's fresh, sweet & sour, and very malty. And surprisingly subtle! There's crumbly, chalky, earthy peat, fizzy lemon squash, a bit of aniseed - maybe fennel seed, actually (perfume-y aniseed-like flavour but fresher & lighter than liquorice). That trademark 'laddie lactic sweetness is there too, like a lightly sweetened cream cheese.

Texture: Heavy weight, very thick & rich, and peaty of course. There's a bit of heat, but this is a 9-year old whisky at nearly 62%, so that's to be expected.

Taste: Big & peaty, but again it's fresh, sweet & sour, and remarkably malty. More fizzy soft drink but it reminds me more of cola here rather than lemon. Some red chilli heat, more fennel, and a huge chunky, bitter, earthy peat that isn't going anywhere.

Finish: Long, of course! That big chunky, earthy peat is still there, as expected, and so is that aniseed / fennel seed, and a beautiful gristy, smoky malty-ness. Slight vanilla, some blow-torched bitter lemon peel, that fizzy freshness again, and some lemon cream cheese cake frosting / icing.

Score: 4.5 out of 5.

Notes: Whoa, this is fantastic! Really, really good stuff. Call me crazy, but it does very much remind me of Octomore 6.3 - which is high praise- and that 9-year old "cask remnant" 6.3 from last year's warehouse tasting at the distillery. Which does make sense, but I didn't really expect it for some reason. There are some differences though, a bit more heat and a bit less cask influence in this bottling I'd say, but it's absolutely delicious regardless. This is a purist's Octomore, with no fancy cask finishing or exotic wine casks to be seen, just a beautiful peaty spirit with loads of Octomore and Bruichladdich character. There's a surprising amount of distillery character here actually - surprising because of the massive peat levels in play - and that remarkable fresh, malty, almost "clean" flavour that is present in this super-heavily peated whisky at nearly 62%. Which is the magic of Octomore of course, right here in plain sight. This single cask has reminded me just how fantastic 6.3 was, and now is, with a few more years of maturation under its belt. What a treat!

Needless to say, if you're a fan of this style of malt and you manage to stumble across a bottle of this Octomore Farm variant, you're going to want to buy it. And if you don't, I will! Very well done to all of those responsible for this fantastic whisky. Please keep 'em coming, and if you could make them just a little easier to get in Australia, well that'd be great too!

Cheers!

Where is Whisky Headed?

Whisky production is something of a gamble. You don't want to produce too little or you'll run out of stock, and you don't want to produce too much - you'll need to sell it at some point! When you choose how many casks to buy or how many casks to fill for a future release you're looking eight, ten, fifteen or twenty years into the future, and taking a gamble on how the market will look when that particular cask or particular whisky is ready for release. If someone were to invent a working crystal ball I'm sure the whisky industry would be a major customer. We're in the middle of a huge whisky boom at the moment, but it can't last forever, and that's been shown quite a few times in the past - sometimes to devastating effect. The tastes and preferences of the masses can change on a whim, and while most of us whisky die-hards will always be there and wouldn't dream about switching to anything else, it's important to remember that we're not enough to sustain an industry. While we're a fast-growing sector at the moment, in the overall scheme of things we're still a small fish in a big pond as far as volume goes. You'd think it would be better to have too much than to not have enough, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that if you were looking at the state of the Japanese whisky industry over the last few years. But that's only true to a certain extent as prices are driven down, profits are cut and compromises are made. It can also lead to a drop in quality, not necessarily by those involved in the initial wave of success, but often by the newcomers who are cashing in on the "boom". And some are really "cashing" in more than others, if you catch my drift - the word greed comes to mind! Some of those newcomers also take shortcuts and compromise their products, or even defraud their customers outright, which can result in the entire local industry being tarnished. A certain Tasmanian distillery comes to mind there, and while its new owners are trying to right the wrongs (and I commend them for it), it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of effort to overcome the past issues. If they can be overcome at all...

Now under new ownership, thankfully...

There have been a surprising number of major crashes in the whisky industry in relatively-recent times, most recently in the early 1980s, and there are many who believe that we're heading towards another in the near future. If you were to look at the long-term performance of whisky on a graph it would resemble a roller coaster, and both the climbs and dives will have gotten steeper every time. We're currently on a very steep climb, probably a record one. New distilleries are popping up all over the planet on an almost-weekly basis, including here in Australia, as interested parties want to get a piece of the pie while it's hot. But the pie may be cooling at a faster rate than many think, and it's quite likely that there will be a few left without a chair when the music stops. Aside from huge investments from the large multi-national corporations, including some new distilleries with astronomical production capacities, we also have a huge influx of small "craft" malt distilleries opening all over the planet, all searching for their unique selling point and attempting to carve out their niche in a market that is very likely heading towards saturation. The current state of the Australian gin industry comes to mind here, where there are dozens-upon-dozens of new brands popping up, with many relying on unique packaging and/or clever marketing to get them in the retailer's doors and onto the customer's shelves. Some are small and independent, and some are only presented as such, including quite a few that arguably do not actually produce their own product, or at least many that do not produce the base ingredient of their own product. And gin can largely get away with that, because it's often re-distilled anyway, but you may be surprised to learn that a similar problem is beginning to affect the whisky scene. Or rather that it's beginning to be uncovered in the whisky scene - it's been happening for years.

In some cases loopholes in the regulations of certain countries are being exploited. A good example is the relatively recent influx of "Japanese" whisky which is not actually Japanese, or at best not 100% Japanese. While I'm sure this sort of thing is happening elsewhere, it does seem particularly prevalent in Japan at the moment, no doubt spurred by the frankly ridiculous demand for "Japanese Scotch" as novice and newcomer consumers - and investors who are already too late - jump on the bandwagon to get their hands on the flavour of the month. For a country with such a deep-rooted belief in being honourable and respectful, there are a surprising amount of companies that in my opinion are not being honest with their customers, either by omission, or by lying outright, or by targeting the ignorant by very closely copying the packaging and designs of successful brands. Or a mix of all three. I'm referring to the "Japanese" blended whiskies that are quickly appearing out of thin air, and are not distilling their own whisky. "So what?", you might think, "that's what independent bottlers do!". And you'd be right, but in this case it's a little different. If you purchased a bottle of whisky that was clearly labelled as Scotch, which actually contained American whisky / whiskey, or you purchased a bottle of Australian whisky that actually contained Scotch whisky, would you be happy with your purchase? Well that is exactly what's happening with many of these "Japanese" products at the moment. Scotch whisky, whether purchased as new make spirit or mature whisky, is being purchased by Japanese companies and shipped to Japan in bulk, and is being sold as Japanese whisky, when in reality it was either not produced in Japan at all, or was only partly-produced in Japan. I'm not going to single out any particular brands here - note that I haven't said "distilleries" - and there are plenty of examples around. Certain "Japanese" brands have been doing this for a long time - particularly those that also own Scotch whisky distilleries - but it's becoming much more prevalent today. Luckily there are plans afoot to get this loophole closed, understandably spearheaded by those respectable companies that were responsible for the current success of Japanese whisky, but until that happens there is a very real danger of the entire industry being damaged by this practice. And that could be very damaging at a time when investments are being made and production is being ramped up to meet massive new demand. This sort of thing has occurred in the Scotch industry in the past, most famously in Campbeltown in the late nineteenth century. At the time that resulted in the region's over twenty distilleries dropping like flies, and massively damaging the town and surrounding areas.

This sort of thing isn't unique to Japan of course, it's commonplace in many established whisky industries, particularly in Ireland and America, where those brands are often referred to as non-distiller producers. The difference is that those brands generally don't claim to be distilling their products, and they're sourcing spirit that is at least made in the same region or at least the same country, and spirit that complies with the relevant regulations of that country. There have been a few that essentially mislead their customers by claiming to make their own whisky, again either by omission or by misleading wording (calling themselves a distillery when they did not make their own product) - including one recent and deservedly controversial example in mainland Australia - but the vaguery of the whisky regulations in some parts of the world doesn't help. There's also the bigger question of when whisky is actually 'made'. Is it made when it comes off the still as new make spirit, where it cannot legally be called whisky? Or is it made when it has spent two or three years (depending on local regulations) maturing in casks? It's almost a "the chicken or the egg" question. In my opinion the answer is the egg, or rather the new make spirit, because the eventual result cannot exist without that first stage, and if the initial requirements (particularly the permitted cereal grains and the maximum distillation strength) are not met, then the end product after those two or three years of maturation is still not whisky. Which again reminds me of the very-shady past practices of that certain Tasmanian distillery...

So what to do about all of this? In my mind there's no question that stronger regulations are needed, particularly in these relatively "new world" whisky producing nations, as a first step. Then those regulations need to be actively enforced. And that's ranging from the base ingredients (preferably cereal grains) permitted, to any additives permitted (preferably none!), to labelling requirements and country of origin requirements. The majority of the quality producers around the world tend to follow the Scotch whisky regulations anyway, so why not simply copy those regulations and implement them in these new world countries? That would help to weed out some of the shady types, and help the local industries regulate themselves, with a little help from regulatory bodies or customs oversight needed (but no increased duty rates, thank you very much). It would also put the international whisky producers on an even playing field with what will always be the dominant team in the game. And don't think that such a move would stifle innovation. Even those Scotch whisky regulations, the most recent version of which was implemented by the Scotch Whisky Association in 2009, can be amended - as they were just this year with regards to permitted cask types. Even without the amendments, the potential for innovation within those regulations is almost limitless. And they still do what they were intended to do, which is to ensure that Scotch whisky produced in Scotland is actually whisky, and they're protecting the entire Scotch whisky industry from potential risks and potential damage in the process. I'd even argue that those regulations help form the backbone of the industry. And a strong backbone is crucial for supporting both short- and long-term growth. So where's the harm in that?

As for the rest, until those crystal balls finally hit the market we'll just have to enjoy the climb, savour the fresh air and enjoy the views from these new heights. I don't see things slowing down just yet, but what goes up...

Cheers!

Port Charlotte PC9 & PC10 Whisky Reviews!

Part 3 of 3, the last two whiskies in this very special series that I've never tasted. See here for Part 1, featuring PC5 & PC6, and here for Part 2, featuring PC7 & PC8. I'm already feeling a little sad that this mini-series of reviews is coming to an end!

These are two of the rarest releases in the series, with only 6,000 bottles released of each. Which is the same number of bottles as the first release, PC5, and a tiny amount compared to the largest release of 30,000 bottles, PC8. There very nearly wasn't a PC9 at all, in fact, due to the pressure on the distillery's stocks for it's then-upcoming release of the first core range 10-year old Port Charlotte. But in true Bruichladdich fashion the distillery felt obligated to look after the fans who had been following the series from its conception, and they came through, albeit in limited numbers. PC10 was just as rare, and also nearly didn't exist for the same reason. In fact it was made a little obscure and under-appreciated thanks to the release of that aforementioned 10-year old core range release, which actually turned out to be a limited release. There have been a total of four 10-year old Port Charlotte official bottlings released to the general market (not distillery exclusives), one at 46% ABV and two at 50%, and only one at cask strength. To paraphrase Highlander, there can be only one PC10!

Both of these releases were fully-matured in both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, and they were the last of the PC series to follow that recipe since PC11 & PC12 were 'only' finished / Additional Cask Enhanced in sherry casks. Speaking of which, I reviewed those two last year so I won't re-review them now, which makes this review of PC9 & PC10 the third and final part of this mini-series. But you can read all about the next and final two releases in the series here. As I said at the time, PC11 is my pick of the two, but they're both deserved of your attention (and money) if you can find them. They were both travel / duty-free exclusive, but PC12 in particular did seem to hang around for a while. Now, back to the subject at hand...

The nine-year old PC9 was distilled in 2002 and bottled in 2011, at a cask strength of 59.2%. It's Gaelic name was "An Ataireachd Ard" (don't ask me to pronounce that one!), meaning "The Surge of the Sea", as a tribute to the Atlantic ocean that claws away at Islay's eastern shores. PC9 also saw the return of the individually numbered bottles to this series, which was skipped for PC8 and then done away with for PC11 & PC12. The nine-year old is one of the most difficult to find in the entire series, and to my knowledge was never released in Australia. As with PC8 the official maturation declaration only states "American Oak", but unlike PC8 the official tasting notes refer to Spanish sherry casks, so we know there are both ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks in this one, and based on the colour & flavour I suspect the proportion of the latter was significantly higher than it was in its predecessor, and in PC10 for that matter. Let's get to it!

Port Charlotte PC9, 9-years old, 59.2%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 2002, bottled 2011. Matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, both American oak. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 6,000 bottles.

Colour: Amber.

Nose: Reminiscent of PC7, which is already a win, but it's softer and more rounded. Some leather & shoe polish, fresh tar / bitumen, and sweet, dark treacle. Then sultanas / golden raisins, damp sea shells and muddy, damp, earthy peat. Slightly floral sweetness and some lemon rind with more time.

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, rich & sweet, smoky & ashy. Very nice. Slight heat but it's well hidden.

Taste: Rich syrup to start with, date syrup in fact. Some muddy peat and floral heathery notes, then dried fruit (orange in particular), and more of that sultana and treacle from the nose. Then an ashy, spicy smoke with a little vanilla paste and more lemon rind.

Finish: Long. Some fresh red chilli, then more of that spicy, ashy smoke and muddy, earthy peat. Becomes softer with the sultana and treacle returning but it's more dry here than on the nose or palate. More of a treacle tart or pecan pie now actually, including the pastry.

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: Very nice this one! Not quite on the level of 5, 6 & 7 in my book, but there's not much space between them. It's very much in a similar vein to PC7, which I'm guessing is due to a higher percentage of sherry casks being in the recipe. It's definitely a softer & more rounded dram, but don't think of this as a shy whisky by any means. And the addition of that tar & ashy smoke is very enjoyable. The texture of PC9 is spot on too, nicely weighted with loads of flavour, although again not quite on the level of 5, 6 & 6. Particularly 6 & 7. The addition of those floral and heathery notes show a brighter and lighter side to this nine-year old, and could well be hinting at what's coming next... Very tasty stuff this, I only wish they'd made more of it!



And next up, and finally, PC10. As I mentioned above, this is not to be confused with the 'regular' 10-year old Port Charlotte releases, of which there have been three versions over the last seven-or-so years. The first was bottled at 46% and was matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, and was released in late 2012 at a similar time to the far rarer real PC10. It was meant to be a permanent addition to the Port Charlotte line-up, following after a couple of non-age statement bottlings, but that wasn't to be. The second was a limited release of 18,000 bottles and was bottled at 50%, since that had become (and still is) the distillery's standard bottling strength at the time, and some Spanish and French red wine casks were added to the mix. The third release is an actual permanent core range bottling, and is presented in the new updated design & green stumpy bottles that I've dubbed the "smoke grenades". But there has only ever been one real PC10, and it was bottled at a cask strength of 59.8% ABV, a higher strength than PC9. It's almost as hard to get a hold of as PC9, to my knowledge was never released in Australia, and is constantly getting mixed up with the regular-strength bottlings in conversation. Its cask recipe is a little mysterious, once again only stating "American Oak", with no mention of sherry casks in the tasting notes, and it's definitely a shade or two lighter in colour than PC9. And it's also a piece of history, being the first 10-year old Port Charlotte bottling and the only one to date to be bottled at cask strength. The Gaelic name in this case was "Tro Na Linntean", meaning "Through the Generations", as a tribute to the appointment of Allan Logan's appointment as Bruichladdich's Distillery Manager - the youngest distillery manager in Scotland at the time - after Duncan McGillivray's retirement. Here we go...

Port Charlotte PC10, 10-years old, 59.8%. Islay, Scotland. 
Distilled 2002, bottled 2012. Matured in "American Oak". Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 6,000 bottles.

Colour: Full gold.

Nose: Softer, brighter and sweeter. Rich vanilla custard, maybe creme brulee? Plus heather honey and a soft & refined earthy peat. Quite a lot of heather here actually! Some buttery oak as well, and some drying seaweed. Golden malt, lemon zest and hint of damp rock with more time.

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, rounder and softer, but quite spicy / peppery. Not in a harsh or hot way though, in fact it hides its strength & relatively young age very well.

Taste: Yep, definitely creme brulee. Rich vanilla custard and blow-torched demerara sugar, or even coffee crystals (crystallised light brown sugar) and a slight touch of pineapple. More heather honey, then drying out with a spicy, dry, earthy peat. A bit of aniseed, lemon and more vanilla custard.

Finish: Medium-long length. Fresh green chilli and mixed peppercorns, stays reasonably dry after that with more heather and that dry, spicy, earthy peat. Some dried lemon peel, golden biscuit-y malt and a bit of ashy smoke to finish.

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: A noticeably different whisky to its predecessors in the series, although it is aligned with PC8 in character, but with more depth, offering a rounder and more mellow experience. It's almost as if PC10 is showing that it has come of age, which is probably the idea, but I should add that I didn't find PC6 or PC7 to be immature at all. Like PC8 this ten-year old does feel like there were only a few sherry casks in the mix, or perhaps none at all, especially in comparison with PC7 & 9. Which is not a criticism of course, it's just a different take on this delicious whisky. Certainly a Bruichladdich and of course also a Port Charlotte milestone regardless. Great stuff.

Overall Notes: What a series, and what an experience! Bruichladdich have kept up the same standards of quality with subsequent Port Charlottes, but somehow the current range feels more 'modern' to me than these older releases. And yes, that could just be in my head, but I would offer that it's also due to the addition of (red) wine casks in the core range. Wine casks have always been one of Bruichladdich's strengths, and they have released some phenomenal wine cask-matured whiskies, but in the case of Port Charlotte I think they give a more "polished" feel with less of that desirable "roughness" that many whisky nerds love. Again, that's not a criticism, it's just a different angle on Islay malts, which is the name of the game after all. Having eight (and soon nine) Islay distilleries producing the same whisky would take the fun out of it! 

And now, the definitive question in a mini-series like this. How would I rank the eight whiskies in the PC_ series? Well, wonder no longer. My ranking would be PC6, PC7, PC5, PC9, PC11, PC10, PC12 and PC8. But there's no loser in this race, they're all great whiskies and are basically pieces of modern-Islay and Bruichladdich / Port Charlotte history at this stage. And what an honour to have tasted them all!

Which brings us to the end of this Port Charlotte PC_ mini-series! I hope you've enjoyed reading about them as much as I've enjoyed tasting them. The entire series are very enjoyable and are great quality whiskies, and they're all milestones in the journey of Port Charlotte, but in the end my overall favourite is definiely PC6. The sheer volume of flavour & texture on offer there was incredible, and very memorable. I think I'll need to track down a bottle of that one before it's too late. Thanks again to the generous whisky fanatic that provided the samples for these reviews, and made this mini-series possible!

Cheers!

Port Charlotte PC7 & PC8 Whisky Reviews!

Part 2 of 3. Told you you wouldn't have to wait long!

After the brilliance of PC5 & PC6 in my last review, these two have some serious shoes to fill! But I have no doubt that they'll hold their own. In the interest of full disclosure, I've actually already reviewed PC7 (here), but that was almost five years ago now, so I can't resist revisiting this old favourite. And it'll be very interesting to see if my thoughts on it have changed with that extra half-decade of experience. For a quick re-cap, these are the cask strength Port Charlottes known as the 'PC_' series, starting with PC5 that was the first Port Charlotte single malt ever released, hitting the shelves as a 5-year old whisky in 2006. The series ended with the travel-exclusive PC12, which was first bottled in 2014 and finished up in 2015. All are heavily peated to 40 ppm and are bottled at cask strength, all have age statements, and being Bruichladdich single malts they are of course non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Port Charlotte sits in between Bruichladdich's un-peated namesake whisky and the super-heavily peated Octomore, and is named as a homage to the LochIndaal Distillery in the village of Port Charlotte that closed in 1925. The 'brand' has recently undergone a packaging revamp with a new more modern green bottle and updated label designs, which were previously very similar to that of the Bruichladdich malts. They certainly stand out now!

While we're on the subject of packaging, I'd like to lament the decline of the whisky booklet. Booklets were a common thing in older whisky bottlings, but are becoming scarce, which if you ask me is quite a shame. Things are constantly moving forward in the digital age - and yes I see the irony that I'm writing about this in an online blog post - but there's something about "un-boxing" a special new whisky and reading the accompanying booklet that can't be matched by keying a code into a website or scanning a QR code on your phone. And yes I feel the same about the booklets that no longer appear in CD & game cases. They feel much more real, and give more of a connection to the people that made the whisky/music/game. PC5-7 included booklets with brief information on the series and the specific bottling, but no further, although in fairness Bruichladdich kept this practise up for longer than many other distilleries, most of which only include such luxuries with their very-high end bottlings.  

First up, PC7. Distilled in 2001 and bottled in 2008 at seven years of age, this release followed the legacy of PC5 more closely than the second release in the series, in that it was matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, both coopered from American oak, and although the proportions aren't disclosed I suspect based on taste that there was a reasonable amount of sherry matured-malt in the mix. PC7 was bottled at a cask strength of 61% ABV, so only slightly down on PC6, and it was the largest release so far in the series with 24,000 bottles hitting the shelves, although it ended up being beaten in that regard by the next one in the line-up. PC7's Gaelic name was "Sin An Doigh Ileach", which translates to "It's The Islay Way". What that refers to is the help and support that Bruichladdich received from the Islay locals, known as Ileachs, during it's resurrection and through the early years. Adding to that were the six different outer tins used for PC7, and while the white tins used for PC6 pictured distillery staff, the black tins for PC7 all featured Islay locals, from contractors to farmers to fishermen. In fact one of the six varieties even featured the now-famous James Brown (and a few of his Highland cattle), who's Octomore farm provides the water used for the distillery's Octomore single malts, and the barley used for the Islay Barley _.3 bottlings. Bruichladdich have always felt very strongly that the most important ingredient involved in whisky making is the people who make it and help make it, and it's not just a marketing spiel, it's much more than words. They're extremely passionate about it, and that hasn't changed under Remy Cointreau ownership - the distillery is still the largest single employer on Islay. These tins used for PC7 and the Gaelic name of this whisky are a further testament to that. To quote the official press release at the time, "It's the Islay way, and long may it continue". Hear hear.

Port Charlotte PC7, 7-years old, 61% ABV. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 2001, bottled 2008. Matured in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry American oak casks. Non-chill filtered and natural colour. 24,000 bottles.

Colour: Copper.

Nose: Oh yes! Boot polish, golden syrup, old leather, earthy peat and sweet raisins. There's a bit of salt and a lovely brown sugar-sweetness behind all that with a slight hint of vanilla cream, charred caramelised pineapple and salted walnuts & almonds. There's a lot going on here, and I love it!

Texture: Fantastic. Medium-heavy weight, rich & oily. Mouth-coating, in fact, and no heat at all.

Taste: Yes! More golden syrup, a few dates, spicy & earthy peat and a lovely deep note of furniture polish and and old leather armchair. In a seven year old whisky, remember! That brown sugar & caramelised pineapple are still there, plus sweet golden sultanas, and slight hints of vanilla cream and sea spray.

Finish: Long! Beautiful thick wood smoke and spicy charred oak. Cinnamon & bitter orange peel, some dark toffee sweetness and a slight hint of burnt banana bread. Then sugary-sweet to the end with more charred pineapple and that earthy peat underneath.

Score: 4.5 out of 5.

Notes: Truly delicious stuff. What a whisky! It's a bit of an enigma really, it's dark & brooding, smoky & spicy, and sweet & tropical all at the same time. Remarkable for the age, and a great example of how age & maturity are two very different things. Another brilliantly-made whisky with huge depth of flavour & character. There's not a hint of roughness or immaturity at all, in fact it drinks well beyond its modest seven years of maturation. PC7 doesn't quite have the massive rich texture & syrupy sweetness of PC6, and I'd have to give the win to the latter in a head-to-head contest, but the seven isn't far behind. Another truly special dram that absolutely deserves its place alongside PC6 in the Bruichladdich history books. Both are absolute magic, and the seven-year old is a little more easily obtained, so Islay fans - you need to get your hands on one of these before it's too late!

And now, Part 2 of Part 2!

PC8 was the fourth and final bottling in the series that was distilled in that first year of Bruichladdich's revival in 2001. Doing away with the changing tin designs, PC8's tin featured the Kilchoman Cross, a 12th century Celtic cross located in Kilchoman Church's graveyard, and the Gaelic name was "Ar Duthchas", which basically translates to "our heritage", referring to the heritage of the Ileachs, the Islay locals, although there is no direct translation into English. As passionate as they are about their people, Bruichladdich are just as passionate about their island home. There's a fairly famous quote from the now-retired Jim McEwan, who was of course responsible for all of these PC releases, where he states that he's not only an ambassador for his distillery, but rather represents Bruichladdich first, then Islay second, and the entire Scotch whisky industry third, and he certainly fulfilled that mission during his career. The cask recipe for PC8 is a little mysterious, only stating that it was matured in American oak and there being no detailed information out there like there is with the other releases, although some sleuthing required in some cases. American oak could mean almost anything in the scheme of things, and it's notably lighter in colour than all of the other releases. Now that doesn't mean there were no sherry casks involved in this one, but if there were, based on flavour profile I suspect there were significantly less of them in the mix. But those are only guesses, and in the end the proof is in the pudding - or rather the drinking. PC8 was bottled at 60.5% ABV, and was the largest release in the series, consisting of 30,000 bottles.

Port Charlotte PC8, 8-years old, 60.5% ABV. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 2001, bottled 2009. Matured in American oak. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 30,000 bottles.

Colour: Full gold.

Nose: Brighter, fresher and softer, maybe even a little closed in comparison. There's a bit of a spirit-y prickle to it as well, alongside a big pinch of spicy black pepper. There's also toasted coconut, a damp vegetal peat, some salted caramel, salt-laden driftwood and sea spray. Some fresh liquorice, vanilla custard, floral sweetness and a bit of salted butter come through with more time.

Texture: Medium weight, lighter and a little more raw, with a bit of heat, but still oily & full-flavoured.

Taste: Definitely a much fresher and lighter (in character) dram, but there's no shortage of flavour. Some dark liquorice, a deep crumbly vegetal peat, and a floral sweetness around the edges - bourbon cask-Bruichladdich signature. Some vanilla custard and charred oak, more pepper and a touch of lemon.

Finish: Medium-long length, but again it's lighter and there's more heat and bite to it. Along with more charred oak & liquorice, that vanilla and floral sweetness return underneath that crumbly deep peaty-ness.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: It's a lighter, hotter and brasher whisky this, especially in comparison with its younger siblings - even PC5. In fact it feels lighter and perhaps also younger than all of its predecessors. I do think there were either only a few sherry casks involved in this one, or perhaps none at all. That's no bad thing of course, it's just different, but whatever the cause PC8 doesn't quite have the same level of depth and complexity as the other releases. There's a purity to it though, it's maybe more of a typical Islay malt, and there's more Bruichladdich DNA on show here as well with that floral sweetness coming through. But in a 1v1 battle, PC7 easily wins this one in my book.

Overall: Two markedly different drams here! PC7 is more mature, more deep & complex while PC8 is fresher, more spirit-y and a little raw around the edges. Not harsh, just a little raw. There's also a different dimension to the peat character in the eight-year old, it's more vegetal and somehow heavier than the peat that comes through in the younger expressions. So PC7 wins this one, but to be fair it was previously my favourite Port Charlotte of all time - unseated by the PC6 in my last review - so PC8 may have been at a slight disadvantage from the start. As hard as we may try, there's always subjectivity involved in reviewing whisky! So PC6 & PC7 are the winners so far, with PC8 bringing up the rear, but there aren't any real losers in this race. See you next week for Part 3!

Thanks again to the fellow-whisky geek that made these reviews possible - by being so damn generous!

Cheers!

Port Charlotte PC5 & PC6 Whisky Reviews!

Yes, you read that correctly. This is an actual bucket list experience... oh, the anticipation!

I've wanted to taste these two Port Charlottes since I first started appreciating real whisky, quite a few years ago now. Inspired by watching YouTube videos, trawling distillery websites, reading reviews - yes, even the "whisky bible" - and creating dream shopping carts on various whisky websites - we've all done it! The early Port Charlotte heavily peated cask strength range from Islay's Bruichladdich caught my relatively inexperienced eye back then, along with a few other very special whiskies like the epic original Ardbeg Supernova from 2009, and the legendary Octomore 2.2 Orpheus which remains on the top of that wish list. Since those early days I've been lucky enough to tick a few legendary whiskies off of that list, although on the other hand more unobtainable whiskies have been added to it since. But since they were already quite rare in those times the two first releases of the Port Charlotte series, PC5 and PC6, have managed to elude me. In fact I'd never even managed to see these whiskies in reality until recently. But now, thanks to an extremely generous fellow whisky nerd who opened and shared all eight PC_ series bottlings on his birthday this year, I finally get to taste & review them!

These are the slightly mysterious cask strength Port Charlottes, also known as the PC_ series, the last expression of which was bottled back in 2015. Not to be confused with the core range expressions, they are the far rarer and more elusive bottlings from the early days of Port Charlotte distillation at Bruichladdich, including the first production runs in 2001, soon after the distillery had been resuscitated from it's seven-year closure by the now-legendary Jim McEwan, Mark Reynier and Duncan McGillivray. All of these PC_ bottlings had age statements, were bottled at cask strength, and were heavily peated to 40 ppm in the usual Port Charlotte fashion, and all but the first had meaningful Gaelic names emblazoned on their tins & labels. Aside from one bottling in the line-up, all were matured in either ex-bourbon casks only or a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, and the outer tins all featured photos of distillery staff or Islay locals as a tribute to the people that either made or enabled others to make these whiskies. Being products of Bruichladdich Distillery of course they were all bottled at natural colour and non-chill filtered. The series started with PC5, as in Port Charlotte 5-year old, which was released in 2006, and it ended with the PC12 bottling, at at least 12-years of age, being first released in 2014 and winding up back in 2015. Both PC11 & PC12 (both reviewed here) were travel retail / duty free exclusive, each consisting of 12,000 bottles, while the earlier bottlings were more limited and harder to source. I was lucky enough to stumble upon a bottle of PC7 (reviewed here) over 5 years ago now, and it was absolutely fantastic, making me lust after it's predecessors even more!

PC5 was the very first release of Port Charlotte. The heavily peated brainchild of Jim McEwan, Port Charlotte was inspired by the LochIndaal Distillery that was located in the village of Port Charlotte and closed in 1929. The original warehouses from that dead distillery are now owned by Bruichladdich, and are used to mature all three spirits that the distillery produces - the un-peated Bruichladdich, the heavily-peated Port Charlotte, and the super-heavily peated Octomore. PC5 carried the name 'Evolution'. It was distilled in May 2001, and was matured for five years in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks in the old LochIndaal Distillery warehouses in Port Charlotte. It was bottled in 2006 at a hefty cask strength of 63.5% ABV, and only 6,000 bottles were produced. Naturally you'll now be looking at overseas whisky auctions for this piece of modern Islay history, if you can find a bottle at all. One popular online UK retailer has a bottle in stock at the time of writing, and they're asking 750 GBP for it, which with shipping, tax & duty would end up costing you around $1,800 AUD. Not a cheap proposition for a 5-year old whisky, but we have to remember that it's an irreplaceable milestone in the history of Port Charlotte, Bruichladdich and Islay as a whole. Let's get to it!

Port Charlotte PC5, 5-years old, 63.5%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled May 2001, bottled 2006. Matured in a combination of ex-bourbon & ex-sherry casks in the warehouses of the former LochIndaal Distillery in Port Charlotte. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 6,000 bottles.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Salty & very coastal, sea shells, kelp, sea spray & warm sand. Caramel popcorn and some gristy malt behind a light & sweet wood smoke. There's a bit of nose prickle, but that's to be expected. Vanilla paste and icing sugar, a touch of iodine, more sea spray. Not a shy whisky by any means!

Texture: Boom! Heavy weight, big & bold, thick & oily. A little heat, but again that's to be expected.

Taste: Delicious. Sweet & smoky, salty & lightly medicinal. It's a bit raw & a bit hot, but it's 5-years old and 63.5% remember. And that's cask-filling strength for most distilleries remember, but not Bruichladdich. And despite that PC5 is full of flavour and very drinkable. There's a thick & acrid wood smoke, more kelp & sea spray, smoky & gristy malt, and a good dab of vanilla paste and sweet lime juice.

Finish: Medium-long length, powerful. A raw & spirit-driven experience, but there's not a hint of harshness or roughness about it by any means. Some chipotle sauce (smoked green chillies), more bbq wood smoke, and a delicious sweet & malty spirit punching through vanilla, a few new bandages & a touch of salted liquorice.

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: Wow. This could easily pass for an Octomore, but with a heavier texture and more wood smoke (rather than peat) & coastal influence. One of the most 'coastal' Port Charlottes that I've ever tasted. It's powerful, it's a bit raw, but it's delicious. PC5 is excellent. It's young, it's big & bold and spirit-led, but I love that. At least I love that when it's done well, which is definitely the case here. Now I need to get my hands on some Port Charlotte new make spirit, because I suspect it'd be fantastic! There's nothing aggressive, rough or rushed about this 5-year old whisky, it's exceedingly well-made and it's surprisingly balanced to boot. Actually that's not all that surprising, since this is a Bruichladdich, and that's just what they do! It does have that BBQ wood smoke and sweetness that is Port Charlotte's signature move, but it's also very coastal and more powerful than most. Fantastic stuff, and it's a real honour to taste and review the first Port Charlotte single malt ever released. That's another special whisky ticked off on the bucket list!

But that's not all folks...

Next up, the legendary PC6. That legendary status was largely thanks to the slightly unsettling review that appeared in Jim Murray's "whisky bible" at the time, where he gave it 96.5 points and wrote a series of suspicious noises as his tasting notes, and also thanks to the poetic official tasting notes from Jim McEwan himself, PC6 was at the top of my early bucket list for quite some time. It's a bit of an outlier in the PC_ range, being the only expression that was packaged in a white tin rather than the black tins of the rest of the series, and being the only expression to feature maturation in something other than bourbon and/or sherry casks. It was also the first of the series to feature a Gaelic name, which in this case was "Cuart Beatha", meaning "The Walk of Life". Originating from those same early distillation runs in 2001, PC6 was matured for six years in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-Madeira fortified wine casks. Bottled in 2007 at a cask strength of 61.6%, it was a far larger release consisting of 18,000 bottles, but that hasn't made it much easier to find in 2019. To my knowledge this is the only official bottling of Port Charlotte to spend any time in Madeira casks, and of course it's another piece of Bruichladdich history. So this one is just as exciting as the last!

Port Charlotte PC6, 6-years old, 61.6%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 2001, bottled 2007. Matured in ex-bourbon and ex-Madeira casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 18,000 bottles.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Slightly richer & rounder, and a little more mellow, but still powerful. Sweeter as well, more syrupy & lightly floral but also pleasantly citrus-y and acidic. Handfuls of dates & golden raisins in syrup, some sea spray and a sweet & thick wood smoke. A little grassy & herbal note, and generous dashes of sweetened lemon & lime juice. Some grilled stone fruit, smoked paprika and a touch of white grape.

Texture: Again, boom! Rich & syrupy sweet, big & powerful, but rounder & more mellow. Utterly beautiful.

Taste: Oh yes. Hello there! Quite the flavour explosion here. More BBQ grilled stone fruit and date syrup, more golden raisins - maybe even sultanas, tinned fruit salad in sweet syrup, with a pinch of vanilla sugar / vanilla extract. Then that sweetened lemon juice again, and a little acidic white grape behind a soft & sweet wood smoke.

Finish: Long & mouth-watering. Sweet & syrupy, more grilled & caramelised stone fruit, white grape and date syrup. Some more smoked paprika, warm wood smoke and a little soft ash. A touch of salted burnt toffee, more sweetened lemon & lime juice, and some peanut brittle.

Score: 4.5 out of 5.

Notes: Yep, I'll take more of that please! It's big & syrupy sweet, the smoke is still there but it's mainly in the finish this time. There's a bucket-load of flavour and character on offer, and the texture is absolutely beautiful. It's a beautiful whisky overall, in fact. And once again it's wonderfully balanced, the Madeira casks haven't overwhelmed anything, they've just added extra dimensions to the big picture. I can see why the hat-wearer got carried away with this one. We don't seem to agree on much these days, but in this case I completely understand. PC6 is notably richer & rounder than it's younger sibling, but there's absolutely no compromise involved with that. Even the (sadly) empty glass smells utterly fantastic. Absolute magic.

Overall: What an experience! And not one to be taken lightly. A massive thanks to the extremely generous donor for these extremely special samples. After all of the anticipation and all of the starry-eyed hopefulness from yours truly, there's not even a modicum of disappointment with either of these very special whiskies. Quite the opposite actually, they've both exceeded my already-high expectations. Bruichladdich have kept the magic going with the Port Charlotte label, and in more recent years there have been some brilliant whiskies bottled bearing that name, but PC6 is now my favourite Port Charlotte of all time. Just an absolutely beautiful whisky! I wonder if any of the older bottlings, PC7 through to PC10, can knock it off that pedestal? Well, again thanks to that generous donor, you won't have to wait long to find out...

Cheers!