The last few years haven't been kind to travel exclusive bottlings, and this one took a long time to sell out in Australia. It appears to be gone now though, at least on the usual duty free websites. So by way of apology I'll tack on a bonus review of a rather different Port Charlotte!
MC01 is a heavily peated (40 ppm) Port Charlotte from Islay's Bruichladdich that has been finished in Sicilian marsala fortified wine casks, but like many of Bruichladdich's products that's not explicitly stated on the bottle or packaging; where you'll only find "ex-Sicilian fortified wine casks". Marsala is Sicilian a fortified wine ranging from semi-sweet to sweet in style, generally aged in continuously topped-up casks in a similar system to the soleras used in Spanish sherry maturation. Here in Australia marsala is probably more widely used in tiramisu or zabaglione desserts than as a standalone drink, but it's commonly served as an aperitif elsewhere. As far as I'm aware this 2018 bottling is the only marsala cask matured Port Charlotte that the distillery has released, possibly even across all three of the distillery's brands. However, like the more recent limited bottlings; MRC01 French red wine cask, OLC01 oloroso sherry cask, PAC01 French red wine cask, and now SC01 Sauternes sweet wine cask, MC01 was only finished in those casks rather than being fully matured. I actually spotted these casks in the Bruichladdich warehouse during my first visit / pilgrimage back in 2017, with MC01 being released roughly 6-months later. Despite this connection though I never picked up a bottle, which is a decision that I might regret after this review! Unfortunately none of the subsequent limited release Port Charlottes - 2020's OLC01, 2021's PAC01, or 2022's SC01 - have made it to Australia in any official capacity. A few cases were parallel imported by a couple of enterprising retailers, but as is usually the case their pricing was prohibitive. For what it's worth, the duty free pricing of MC01 here in Australia was circa $160, which is quite the bargain, but admittedly a little unrealistic here in 2022. The earlier MRC01, the last general release to actually make it to Australia, was around $180, but again that's unrealistic here in 2022. The whisky world is a very different place on this side of the continuing pandemic.
MC01 was released shortly after the Port Charlotte brand underwent major cosmetic surgery. Prior to this it was packaged and labelled very similarly to the distillery's namesake unpeated whisky, which resulted in it being the attention-starved middle child sitting between Bruichladdich and Octomore while they enjoyed their time in the spotlight. As of mid-2018 though Port Charlotte suddenly had a new and distinctive bottle and labelling design, along with a permanent 10-year old core range expression and an annual Islay Barley release (both reviewed here). All that attention and expenditure certainly seems to have worked, and the brand is now extremely popular, largely thanks to the affordable pricing of said 10-year old, which like all core range Bruichladdich bottlings is bottled at 50% ABV and is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured.
MC01 was distilled in 2009 and released in mid-2018 with a 9-year old age statement, and was bottled at a cask strength of 56.3% ABV. It was finished in European oak casks that had themselves matured marsala wine for nine years, while the whisky spent its first 6-years in a combination of ex-bourbon casks and unnamed French oak casks (which I'd assume to mean refill wine casks) before being vatted together and filled into the finishing casks. From those figures we can deduce that it was finished for 2-3 years in the ex-marsala casks, or nearly 30% of the total maturation time. All of these cask-finished high strength Port Charlotte limited releases - MRC01, MC01, OLC01, PAC01, or SC01 - have been similar ages and have followed similar maturation regimens, with a mix of cask types going into the finishing casks for a couple of years. As I've already mentioned, sadly only 2018's MRC01 ever made it to Australia as a general release, while MC01 was duty-free / travel exclusive, and the other two were never officially imported here. Not that I'm upset about it or anything...
Travel exclusive, distilled 2009, released mid-2018. Matured in ex-bourbon and refill French oak ex-wine casks for 6-years, finished for 2-3 years in ex-marsala Sicilian fortified wine casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Bronze.
Nose: Spicy, smoky, sweet. Sweet stone fruit - apricot, nectarine, touch of peach - and spicy sweet smoke. Creamy salted caramel fudge with extra sea salt. Touches of toasted oak, seaweed, raisin, and orange peel. A little nippy on the nose, let's call it "rough around the edges", which isn't common in Port Charlotte.
Texture: Medium weight. Thick, sweet, smoky & spicy. Touch of heat, warming but not harsh.
Taste: Sweet BBQ smoke, slightly ashy. Fruity BBQ sauce, toasted oak, sweet stone fruit - apricot & nectarine again. Some runny honey, roasted hazelnuts, smoked almonds. More salted caramel, touch of raisin, and dried orange peel.
Finish: Medium-long length. Black pepper, burnt & bitter herbs, spicy oak, ashy peat smoke. Runny honey, sea salt, creamy caramel, smoked almonds. Add in some bitter dark chocolate & ginger to finish.
Score: 3.5 out of 5.
Notes: Tasty Port Charlotte - well, aren't they all? There's a spicy, fruity & nutty edge to it, which I assume is from the marsala casks, and it works well. I don't think it quite hits the highs of the delicious MRC01, but it's not far behind. Sadly MRC01 is the only other expression that I've tasted in this series of Port Charlottes to date, since none of the others have come to Australia - and yes, I did have to mention that one more time. There is a touch of heat here in MC01, it's a little rough around the edges, which is unusual for a Port Charlotte. But this is still a relatively young whisky, so we'll forgive that minor transgression. I've never tasted marsala wine on it's own, but the finishing cask influence does seem well-managed, well-integrated and unobtrusive. Which is what all finishes should aim to be! I'm really going to have to hunt down the rest of the series...
Now for something a little different!
Part two of this review is an independent bottling from Dramfool, but it's not quite that simple, thanks to the involvement of legendary Bruichladdich Master Distiller Jim McEwan, who has recently been awarded an MBE for his efforts. When Remy Cointreau purchased Bruichladdich in 2015 Jim took his private casks with him into semi-retirement, initially selling them as "The Cask Whisperer" series through a Swiss independent bottler, and latterly through Dramfool as "Dramfool's Jim McEwan Signature Collection". There have been two series' of Bruichladdich/Port Charlotte/Octomore bottlings from Scottish independent bottler Dramfool, one labelled as "Journey's End" to commemorate Jim's retirement (which still hasn't really happened, over seven years later), and the other as "Jim McEwan Signature Collection". I could be wrong, but as far as I can tell only a few bottlings from the "Journey's End" series were actually Jim's private casks, while the remainder of both series' have been private casks owned by others and sold to / bottled by Dramfool. This small bottler has been around since 2015, but they've been releasing a large amount of bottlings in the last couple of years, including a lot of Bruichladdich spirit, and the level of quality certainly seems to be high.
The bottling that I'm looking at here is Release 2.2 of the "Jim McEwan Signature Collection" series, which is a single cask of 10-year old Port Charlotte that was distilled in July 2010 and bottled in February 2021. The most interesting & exciting point of difference here is that said single cask was an ex-bourbon barrel, which is a very rare thing for a Port Charlotte in general, and is unheard-of in official bottlings save the hand-filled Valinch distillery exclusives. Most Port Charlotte tends to be either matured or finished in wine casks of some description, so an ex-bourbon cask should give the spirit character & distillery character more time to shine. In this case the cask was a first-fill Jim Beam bourbon barrel, with a yield of 257 bottles at a cask strength of 59.4% ABV. It is of course non-chill filtered and naturally coloured. Let's get to it!
"Jim McEwan Signature Collection" independent bottling. Distilled 7/2010, fully matured in first-fill ex-Jim Beam bourbon barrel, bottled 2/2021. 257 bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Bright pale gold.
Nose: Sweet, acidic, smoky. Sweet vanilla custard, smoky gristy (floury) barley, acidic under-ripe tropical fruit - particularly pineapple, plus pear, and watermelon rind (the white & green bits). Loads of sharp, bright lemon, and a touch of lime zest. Sweet spicy BBQ smoke, black pepper, warm toasted oak. Touches of sandalwood and earthy peat with more time.
Texture: Medium weight. Sweet, acidic, smoky. No heat at all.
Taste: Creamy vanilla, sweet & ashy BBQ smoke, lovely sharp lemon acidity again with that under-ripe pineapple & melon rind. Smoky gristy (floury) barley & black pepper.
Finish: Medium length. Creamy sweet vanilla, earthy peat, black pepper. Pinch of salty sea breeze. Camphor (mothballs), sweet nutty smoke, sharp lemon peel. Just what the doctor ordered.
Score: 4 out of 5. But close to a 4.5. Damn you, 5-point scoring system!
Notes: Yep, I'll take more bourbon cask Port Charlotte please! I don't know why the distillery won't give us many bourbon cask options - or any, really - when they can be this good. Well it's probably because they don't stand out as much among the other Islays as their wine cask bottlings do, as far as flavour profile goes, and because most Octomore comes from bourbon casks. But who cares? Basically everyone else uses this proven recipe for a reason - because it works! I absolutely love the acidity in this Dramfool Port Charlotte, plus the subtle vanilla sweetness and that lovely spicy smoke. I suppose if I'm really forced to nit-pick I'd like just one notch more weight on the palate, and one notch more length on the finish. But don't get me wrong, it's no lightweight in either department as it stands, and in terms of flavour we're bang-on. Right in my wheelhouse. This Dramfool bottling hides it's higher ABV extremely well after that unusual slight roughness in the official bottling, more than an extra year of maturation would give. Delicious.
Cheers!
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