The lead-up to the pre-release and release of this "Digital Exclusive" bottle of whisky was pure insanity. Not even the legendary OBA created this much drama on the insatiable interweb. In early May this year a combination of people being isolated, bored, scared, paranoid, or unable to spend their money as they normally would - or all of the above - lead to unnecessary drama that was as close as the digital whisky world gets to pandemonium. It all started with the announcement that this whisky was being released in place of a Feis Ile bottling, since Bruichladdich was closed at the time due to Covid, and the annual Feis Ile festival had been cancelled for the same reason. Bruichladdich was not to blame for the ensuing turmoil, since communications from the distillery were clear from the very start: this was not a Feis Ile release, and was never intended to be, and you won't find those words printed anywhere on this bottle or its packaging, or anywhere. It's a "Digital Exclusive" release, as in it was only available from the distillery's own website - until the hordes of mostly European flippers (looking at you, German eBay scalpers) got their greasy hands on it, of course. Furthermore, there were 3,000 bottles released - more than any recent actual Feis Ile Bruichladdich bottling that I'm aware of, and quite a generous amount overall. Part of the problem, as with many situations over the last few months, was people jumping the gun (acting presumptively) and panicking, being generally impatient, and going on the virtual attack from the comfort of their homes, phones & keyboards. Adding to this impatience was the ballot system that Bruichladdich wisely & fairly chose to utilise for the release of this whisky. You entered the ballot, once you could get on the website at least, and after it was drawn you would then receive an email saying that you had been successful. Simple. The problem was that these successful ballot winners were being notified in batches, so as soon as winner number one (alongside the next five hundred or so) posted on social media that he'd been successful, many of those who had not (yet) received an email promptly spiralled into a Hollywood diva-level meltdown. I'm sure that more than a few keyboards and smartphone screens met their egregious end during those dark days. But all was not lost, there was plenty to go around, and when all was said & done I believe that the vast majority of ballot entries were eventually successful. Aside from that one blood-sucking insect of a flipper who entered the ballot something like sixty times - luckily the distillery caught on and he/she was hopefully left empty-handed. Hopefully.
Aside from all of that totally unnecessary drama, this whisky is actually quite an interesting proposition. A 16-year old Port Charlotte, bottled at a could-be cask strength of 55.8%, and taken from a seemingly hodgepodge mix of different casks, put together from three different 'parcels' of unknown proportions, all at least 16-years of age. Part one was originally filled into refill hogsheads (250-litre casks) before being re-racked into first-fill ex-bourbon barrels (200-litre casks) in 2012. So it was finished / double-matured / additional cask enhanced for around seven years. Part two was originally housed in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, before being re-racked into ex-Sauternes sweet wine casks in 2013, so also finished / double-matured for around six years. Part three is a "complex assemblage of ex-sherry, ex-bourbon and virgin oak casks", and assuming that those casks were fully-matured rather than finished, that is the most curious of the three component 'parcels'. Naturally (pun intended) it's also non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. As eye-catching as the age statement on this bottle is, there has actually already been a 16-year old Port Charlotte - that was an actual Feis Ile bottling from 2018, named 'The Heretic'. This 16-year old Digital Exclusive could possibly be older than its predecessor, but Bruichladdich haven't told us the month/s of distillation or bottling in either case (probably because there were multiple distillation runs involved), so we can't be sure, which means both bottlings were 16-years of age.
This was not a cheap bottle of whisky. It sold for 150 GBP, plus shipping, and if you're unlucky enough to live in a country that likes to punish you for having the nerve to import a bottle of whisky for personal consumption, such as Australia, a hefty customs bill & courier fee will add to that already significant amount. The one person that I know of who wasn't afraid to publicise how much this expensive process cost him paid over $420 AUD to have a single bottle of this 16-year old single malt arrive on his doorstep down under. And that's a very serious spend - for those playing overseas, a bottle of the already-quite expensive Bruchladdich Black Art 6 can be found for around $550 AUD, which is a 26-year old whisky, although it's bottled at a lower strength and is less limited than this Port Charlotte. That same one person by the way is also the source of the sample for this review, by way of a sample swap with yours truly, and without that it's unlikely that I would've ever tasted this dram. One more point before we get to the good stuff - I know I often harp on about this, but I'm going to do it again: just like the permanent 10-year old Port Charlotte that is often referred to as, but is not actually, PC10 (there can be only one real PC10!), this whisky is not PC16. The PC-series ended with PC12 that was last bottled around five years ago. I know we like to abbreviate things in the whisky world, but let's give the real PC series the respect that it deserves! Instead this is a 16-year old Port Charlotte, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. But enough of all that, time to get into it!
Distilled 2003, bottled 2020. Matured in a mix of re-racked bourbon, re-racked Sauternes, ex-bourbon, ex-sherry and virgin oak casks (see above). Non-chill filtered, natural colour. 3,000 bottles.
Colour: Full gold.
Nose: Fresh, sweet, gentle & inviting. Under-ripe (but not unripe) tropical fruit, floral sweetness, a little tar and white pepper. Sea salt, almond brittle / praline, fresh linen and rich vanilla. Seems like the Sauternes casks are the main players here - no bad thing - with sweet tropical & white fruits - white peach, white grape & melon. A very-slight trace of Bruichladdich's lactic sweetness too (think sweeter hard cheeses).
Texture: Medium weight, soft & sweet, quite refined & well balanced. No heat at all.
Taste: Well balanced between sweet fruit & dry, spicy smoke. White peach, under-ripe honeydew (green) melon, icing sugar and a flash of floral notes. Spicy dry smoke, lightly ashy & earthy peat, with a hint of under-ripe sweet banana & toffee behind.
Finish: Long length. Spicy smoke & ashy peat carry through, then that under-ripe tropical & white fruit again, with fresh lemon, and some chilli & almond chocolate. Turning more earthy with a flash of tar and freshly laid gravel alongside. Dried lemon & a lightly salty minerality to finish.
Score: 4 out of 5. Close to a 4.5 though.
Notes: Refined, complex and almost subtle, this Port Charlotte - and you'd never guess the ABV was that high. The balance here is fantastic, with the sweet cask influence working very well with that smoky & sweet Port Charlotte spirit. It does seem like the Sauternes casks have been the most assertive here, or maybe there were just more of them in the vatting? Either way, Bruichladdich do seem to be masters at using these sweet wine casks, and it works well with all three of their spirits (see here for an Octomore example). Don't dive in to this Port Charlotte expecting a later-PC series punch, this 16-year old is a much more mellow and more refined experience - the extra four years of maturation, plus a lot of cask finishing / ACEing, have certainly made themselves known, without overwhelming the smoke and spirit.
I was a little cynical going into this one, thanks to the ridiculous amount of hype and drama that it created (none of which was the distillery's fault), and the not-insignificant pricing for those playing overseas. But there was no need for that cynicism, this Port Charlotte is not disappointing in any way, this is a very tasty dram. It just needs to be opened and enjoyed to be appreciated, when is when you'll instantly forget about all that carry-on that preceded it.
Cheers!
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