White wine (not fortified) cask-matured whiskies are still quite an uncommon thing. While there are quite a few Sauternes / Moscatel / Muscat and other sweet dessert wine-matured examples, there are very few single malts matured in 'regular' white wine casks, and those are most commonly chardonnay casks. The majority of white wine does not spend a significant amount of time in wood before bottling, so these casks aren't as easy to source, but they also don't seem to be in particularly high demand from whisky producers when compared to red- and fortified wine casks. The most easily-accessible example seems to be Glen Moray's Chardonnay Cask Finish, which spends its final eight months of maturation in French Chardonnay casks. Even here in Australia, where wine cask-matured malts are far more prevalent than elsewhere in the world, I'm only aware of a couple of whiskies that have spent time in standard white wine casks. I've only tried a couple of examples myself, both Scotch whiskies from chardonnay casks, and both have been single cask bottlings that are far from the mainstream. The best example that comes to mind was from Edradour Distillery as part of their SFTC (Straight From The Cask) series of bottlings. It was a fantastic whisky, with Edradour's heavy and flavoursome spirit picking up brighter and more tropical & citrus fruit notes than I'd usually associate with the distillery.
This example is a little different, though. This is a Port Charlotte single malt from Islay's Bruichladdich Distillery, which means it's a heavily peated single malt - to 40 ppm on the malt. I'm not aware of any other official bottlings of heavily peated Islay single malt that have been fully-matured in (not sweet and/or fortified) white wine casks, so this is very exciting. If anyone was going to do it though, it would be Bruichladdich! The distillery's "Valinch" range of bottlings are often matured or finished in exotic or unusual cask types, which is fantastic, because they're distillery-exclusive hand-filled single casks, only available to distillery visitors who have made the pilgrimage to Islay. Well, unless you buy them at auction on the secondary market, I guess, but that's a topic for another day. These Valinch bottlings tend to be very special, and they're also very reasonably priced at 75 pounds per 500ml bottle. There is always an un-peated Bruichladdich cask and a heavily-peated Port Charlotte (formerly labelled as "Cask Exploration" rather than "Valinch" bottlings) to choose from, and they're always cask strength single casks, and of course are always non-chill filtered and naturally coloured - as is the case with everything Bruichladdich release. If you're going to the effort of getting yourself to Islay, you really need to visit Bruichladdich. Aside from their excellent tours and incredible warehouse tastings, their distillery shop alone is well worth the trip. The full core range and usually the latest limited releases are always available to taste and purchase, but the two casks on the Loch Indaal-facing side of the shop are a major drawcard and a huge part of the distillery's appeal. So far on my two journeys to Islay I've picked up a Syrah red wine cask-matured Bruichladdich, and a sherry cask-matured Port Charlotte. Both are fantastic, but neither are as exotic and unusual as this particular example!
This Port Charlotte has been fully-matured in a Grenache Blanc white wine cask. Grenache Blanc is a white grape of French origin ("Blanc" meaning "white"), although it can also be found in Northern Spain, the United States and a few other countries. While it may be alien to us whisky folk, the grape variety is actually quite common, mostly in the Rhone region of Southern France. Typical flavours are green (unripe) fruit & citrus, with oak ageing typically adding apple notes, although the wine is often blended with other grape varieties. There is no oak-type specified with this bottling, but based on the colour of this whisky I'd have to place it as French oak, and probably a hogshead. To use its full name, Port Charlotte Cask Exploration 06 "Cuan-Ard" (roughly meaning "wide bay"in Gaelic) spent 10-years in that white wine cask, cask #1615, before being bottled back in 2015 at a cask strength of 58.6%. The Port Charlotte bottling labels were changed from "Cask Exploration" to "The Distillery Valinch" at the same time as the Port Charlotte 'brand' went through a redesign, including the new squat green bottle with plain white or grey labels. The numbering system was scrapped at the same time as well, although the Bruichladdich Valinch releases are still numbered in sequence. Right, let's get into it!
Distilled 10/2005, fully-matured in a single Grenache Blanc white wine cask, bottled late 2015. Distillery exclusive hand-filled. Cask number 1615, 432 x 500ml bottles. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.
Colour: Amber.
Nose: Sweet & fruity, lightly acidic with a touch of earthy peat. Semi-sweet honey, sweet white grapes and buttery toasted oak. Some soft liquorice, white pepper, and roasted nuts - macadamia and brazil nuts, with sea salt.
Texture: Medium weight. Silky, sweet and lightly peaty. A little heat, but pleasant.
Taste: Sweet & syrupy. Tinned fruit syrup, more honey & white grape, some honeydew melon and white pepper. Soft earthy peat, with a little ashy herbal smoke behind. Some bitter liquorice and a touch of orange.
Finish: Medium length. That bitterness carries through briefly, but it's more herbal or even vegetal here. Switches back to the fruity sweetness alongside buttery toasted oak, more salted macadamia & brazil nuts, then that white grape & melon in sweet syrup come back, with a little ashy dry smoke behind.
Score: 4 out of 5.
Notes: A very tasty PC, and a great example of the Valinch bottlings that offer a slightly different take on Port Charlotte. It's a very sweet & fruity one this, and don't expect a big peat- or smoke monster, the fruit & syrup comes first, with a little earthy peat and a good pinch of salt coming along for the ride. The nose is my personal highlight of this particular dram, but the whole package is very enjoyable, there're no areas of disappointment here. The white wine cask has worked really well in my opinion, with those grape and melon notes providing an interesting twist. And thankfully there's no aggressive or dominant influence from the wine itself.
Port Charlotte seems to be quite a versatile malt really, I can't recall tasting any that I haven't enjoyed to some extent. The softer, more earthy peat and trademark BBQ smoke helps, of course. But these cask strength single casks are a great way of hitting the mental 'refresh' button and seeing the spirit from a different angle. Which is what a distillery exclusive bottling should be striving for, if you ask me. And Bruichladdich would have to be offering some of the best examples around. Can't wait to get over there again and see what's on offer!
Cheers!
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