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!

Bruichladdich "Friends of Bruichladdich" Single Cask Whisky Review!

Or to use it's full title, Distillery Micro-Provenance Series, Single Cask, Cask Evolution Exploration!

Which all boils down to this being a single cask official bottling of Bruichladdich, fully matured in a first-fill Oloroso sherry cask, selected and bottled exclusively for the Facebook group "Friends of Bruichladdich" and it's 4,000-or so members. Bruichladdich don't do many private bottlings these days, at least certainly not like they did in the past, but it seems that they made an exception for this group of die-hard 'laddie fans, which is spearheaded by two of their largest private customers and frequent visitors to the distillery. This bottling seems to be a slight extension of Bruichladdich's micro-provenance series, which are a series of single cask bottlings that are often matured in unusual cask types, and are only sold in tiny numbers through the distillery's own website and physical store. Although there are some exceptions, those have mostly been released in series' of three 200ml bottlings, the most recent being the Bruichladdich MP7 (Micro-Provenance number 7) series, but they can come from either the un-peated Bruichladdich spirit, the heavily peated Port Charlotte spirit, or the super-heavily peated Octomore spirit. This particular bottling is a little different, though. This was a single cask that was selected by and bottled for the aforementioned Facebook group founders, in full-sized bottles, at a retail price of 175 GBP. Which isn't exactly cheap, particularly if you're then having it shipped overseas and are at the mercy of your local customs agency, but for what you're getting here that's a decent price. Needless to say, it sold out very quickly regardless!

One of only two Islay distilleries that produces an un-peated single malt as it's core range, Bruichladdich don't offer a sherry cask-matured whisky as part of their core line-up. They tend to focus on either the standard bourbon casks or wine casks instead, usually of the French variety, and that's basically been the case since the distillery's resurrection circa 2001. But like the other un-peated whisky produced on Islay, Bunnahabhain, sherry cask-matured bottlings of Bruichladdich can be fantastic, and they're usually found in the arsenals of independent bottlers such as Gordon & MacPhail, Signatory Vintage and some of the smaller companies. A sherry cask-matured official bottling is all but unheard of, unless one has the coin required to splurge on a few of the 1990 vintage bottlings that were released in the last couple of years, or is lucky enough to get their hands on a distillery-only Valinch bottling. On that note I must admit that the one example that I've been lucky enough to try, the 25-year old 1990/25, was a truly delicious whisky. Most serious whisky enthusiasts are partial to what is commonly referred to as the "sherry bomb", a.k.a. a heavily-sherry cask-influenced whisky often from the likes of Glendronach, Aberlour, or Glenfarclas. Islay whisky is very rarely found in this guise, even more rarely in official bottlings from the distilleries and their owners. So convincing Bruichladdich to sell this single Oloroso cask to a what is effectively a Facebook group must have been quite the task, particularly since the distillery is now owned by Remy Cointreau. That's not to say that the new-ish corporate owners have been restrictive, in fact it seems quite the opposite in Bruichladdich's case with plenty of new investment and no corporate pressure, cost-cutting or shortcuts at all, but you'd have to assume that buying a single cask of mature whisky would've been far easier under the distillery's previous private owners. Regardless of how it happened, it's a great thing and both concerned parties have done very well!

So, what we have here is a 15-year old single cask Bruichladdich from an Oloroso sherry cask, which I would assume came from the distillery's preferred sherry Bodega, Fernando de Castilla in Jerez, Spain. There's plenty of information to be found on the label as well, such as the exact date of distillation (22 May 2003), the barley variety (Optic), plus the warehouse and the exact location within that the cask was kept in (Warehouse 12, location C5). It was bottled at a substantial cask strength of 63.1% ABV on 15 October 2018, and of course is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured - like all malts that leave the distillery gates on the shore of Loch Indaal. It's important to remember that Bruichladdich are one of the few Islay distilleries that mature all of their whisky on the island, and are one of only two Ileachs that bottle their whisky on-site at the distillery. It's also worth noting that Bruichladdich do not reduce the strength of their new make spirit before filling it into casks, where the majority of Scottish malt distilleries dilute down to 63.5% before filling. Which is why some cask strength bottlings of Bruichladdich can carry serious ABV numbers that are significantly higher than most similarly aged bottlings from other Scottish distilleries. The sample for this review came from a very generous fellow whisky nerd who was lucky enough to get hold of a bottle of this very precious whisky. The opportunity to try a single cask official bottling of Bruichladdich is not something that happens everyday, let alone a sherry matured example, so this is a special one!

Bruichladdich Single Cask for Friends of Bruichladdich, 15 year old, 63.1%. Islay, Scotland.
Distilled 22/5/2003, matured in a single Oloroso sherry cask, bottled 15/10/2018. Exclusive to the Friends of Bruichladdich Facebook group. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Very dark amber. Has to be the darkest Bruichladdich that I've seen to date!

Nose: Ooh, it's a big one! Loads of leather, dried fruit and raspberry dark chocolate. Musty & nutty dry sherry, some baked red apple, red liquorice and a slight salty tang. There's a bit of nose prickle, but it's 63.1% remember! Chocolate mousse and a little dried orange come through further on.

Texture: Yep, still a big one! Medium-heavy weight, thick & creamy in feel, loads of flavour and a little heat, but not in an overly harsh or rough way.

Taste: Sherry bomb! Big boozy dried fruit, lots of that lovely raspberry dark chocolate again, and a bit of sharp chilli-like heat although it fades fairly quickly. Some orange liqueur, more leather, and a bit of a musty 'rancio' note found in excellent quality dry fortifieds, reminiscent of cured meat, salted almonds and a bit of mushroom. Delicious!

Finish: Long! A little boozy heat, but behind that is a truckload of flavour - chocolate mousse and that musty rancio note again, more orange liqueur and salted almond. Some dark grape must and a little dank earthy dunnage note - that mushroom & salted nuts again. Very tasty.

Score: 4 out of 5. Not miles away from a 4.5 score either

Notes: It's a big, boozy sherry bomb of a 'laddie, and it's a great whisky! Boat loads of flavour, plenty of character and loads of complexity. A really interesting dram this, and it shows a more aggressive and dirtier style of Bruichladdich that is very rarely seen, and is really enjoyable. I love those leathery dried fruit & raspberry dark chocolate notes too, and that musty & salty rancio tang. I did try adding a little water after the tasting & scoring, and while it did tame the beast slightly I have to say I prefer it neat. The sheer volume of flavour and character on offer here are well worth that touch of spirit-y heat. If only Bruichladdich would bottle something like this more often!

This single cask wasn't a cheap proposition for the overseas buyers, particularly with local customs charges taken into account, but I have to say it's well worth it for the unique experience that this whisky offers the Bruichladdich fan. Very well done to the duo that managed to pry this excellent cask out of the distillery's hands, and thanks to Bruichladdich for letting them have it, and for their continued excellent work! Long live the Friends of Bruichladdich.

Cheers!

Lagavulin 12 Year Old 2014 Whisky Review!

My bottle of this tasty number is nearing it's end now, and I somehow never got around to reviewing it! So let's correct that before it's too late...

The 12-year old is the annual bottling of unadulterated cask strength Lagavulin that is released as part of Diageo's "Special Releases" series each year. It's the purist's choice when it comes to Lagavulin single malt, being bottled at cask strength, non-chill filtered and naturally coloured, although the latter two points now also apply to the 8-year old that has since joined the distillery's core range. But back in 2014 when this 12-year old was released it was essentially the only option for an unadulterated Lagavulin, unless you had access to the distillery-only Jazz Festival or Feis Ile bottlings. Like all of Diageo's annual Special Releases there is no published information on the number of bottles released, but when it eventually made it to Australia there was a large amount of this 2014 bottling floating around, and that stock lasted for quite some time. Rumour is it was over-ordered, which unfortunately meant that we were deprived of any official importation of the 2015 and 2016 releases of the 12-year old. Which is a real shame, because both were excellent, not to mention the 2016 release being the commemorative bottling for the distillery's 200th anniversary. A couple of enterprising retailers parallel imported (bypassed the local importer / distributor) a small amount of both releases, which despite significantly higher prices was very much appreciated by the distillery's thirsty Australian fans. Things seem to be looking up however, since there was a very small amount of the 2017 release officially imported, which I've reviewed here, and the 2018 release has become available quite recently.

As venerable and dependable as Lagavulin's flagship 16-year old bottling is, it is held back by chill filtration, added colouring and the relatively low bottling strength of 43%. Although to be fair that's better than the 40% minimum ABV that Diageo could've gone with, and that some competing distilleries did - and do - go with. Those who've been lucky enough to attend one of the fantastic warehouse tastings at the distillery may have come across a 16-year old single cask Lagavulin at cask strength, which is made even more special by it being drawn straight from the cask by the legendary Ian McArthur. But the 12-year old bottling is actually obtainable, so in my opinion could well be the sweet-spot for refill cask-matured Lagavulin. I am yet to taste a "bad" release in this series, in fact all have been entirely delicious and notably different from each other, which is great to see. I'd have to say the 2013 and 2016 bottlings are my favourites to date, but you really can't go wrong with any of them. This whisky easily stands alongside Laphroaig's 10-year old Cask Strength (reviewed here and here) and the other high-strength Islay staples, and it wipes the floor with quite a few others!

When it arrived in Australia around four years ago this 2014 bottling of the 12-year old could be found for around $150-170 AUD, which even back then was brilliant value for money. The 12-year old was largely unheard of on these shores at the time, which coupled with that rumoured over-order meant that stocks lasted for a considerable amount of time. Years, in fact. But the whisky fans eventually caught on and it's now practically impossible to find at retail. Lagavulin 12-year old is always matured in refill American oak ex-bourbon casks, which when combined with the lack of artificial colouring gives it a beautiful very pale colour and a spirit-led flavour profile, not to mention a fantastic oily, chewy texture thanks to the bottling strength and lack of chill filtration. The 2014 release was bottled at a cask strength of 54.4% ABV, the lowest of any release of the 12-year old to date, by 2% ABV in fact. Not that 54.4% is anything to sneeze at, of course!

Lagavulin 12-year old 2014 release, 54.4%. Islay, Scotland.
Matured in refill American oak ex-bourbon casks. Non-chill filtered, natural colour.

Colour: Pale gold. Lovely!

Nose: Sweet, oily and peaty. A sharp, crumbly and vegetal peat, alongside brine, sweet vanilla cake frosting and some lightly sweetened lime juice. Some good quality olive oil, fresh sea scallops, and a little clean mineral engine oil. More time brings out dried strawberries, more brine and lime juice, and adds a bit of lemon zest.  

Texture: Medium-heavy weight, oily, smoky and surprisingly dry. Hardly any heat for the strength.

Taste: Massively peaty & smoky, a dirty & ashy bonfire smoke alongside that dry & crumbly vegetal peat. More quality olive oil, a little petrol (but in a good way!), black pepper and dried seaweed. Charred driftwood and some partially-melted salted butter.

Finish: Long. A little sweeter, with that fresh shellfish sweetness and a hint of that vanilla frosting around the edges. The peat is still big & dry & vegetal, and it's turning slightly bitter here as well. There's more brine and bonfire smoke, but this time the bonfire was given a few splashes of petrol to help it along. Great stuff!

Score: 4 out of 5.

Notes: You're going to have to like peat, and the dirtier- and drier-side of Islay whiskies, but if you do you're going to love this one like I do. Masses of flavour, masses of peat, and plenty of texture and character. I really love that olive oil note too, I don't remember finding that when this bottle was freshly opened. Possibly the after-effect of some of that Lagavulin dirty engine oil & diesel character receding with air? Only some of it has faded though, there's still plenty to be found, which works beautifully in these whiskies. In fact this bottle has held up very well considering it has been open for over a year, although I did sporadically use Argon gas preserver over that time, which may have helped. Either way it's no less peaty or powerful for it.

Like all of the good Islay malts this Lagavulin transports you back to those Hebridean shores on the other side of the world. On a cold, damp day with flashes of peat smoke and salt hanging in the air. Even if you've never physically been, your imagination will take you there. I must admit that I do prefer the other releases that I've tried over this 2014 bottling of the 12-year old, but you can't really go wrong with any of them. It'll be a sad day when this particular bottle is finally relegated to the graveyard. Let's hope Diageo keep these releases going for many years to come!

Cheers!

Compass Box Hedonism Whisky Review!

"Hedonism" - the pursuit of pleasure & self-indulgence. An ambitious name for a blended grain whisky perhaps, but we're about to find out...

It's been a while since I last mentioned Glasgow-based whisky blender & rule-bender Compass Box, a few years in fact, last appearing when I reviewed their very nice Peat Monster blended malt. Unfortunately that's mainly because we don't see the vast majority of their bottlings in Australia, with almost all of their releases being exclusive to a certain large retailer. Since that last review Compass Box have caused a bit of a stir, in a positive way, by bringing light to the issue of "transparency" in Scotch whisky, specifically with regard to age statements. The issue arose when Compass Box started releasing the full details of the component whiskies in their blends, and stating the age and proportion of each component whisky. The problem with this is that according to the SWA regulations, an age statement can only declare the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle. So for example a whisky that is a blend of 10-year old and 20-year old spirit can only have an age statement of 10 years, it can't legally state "a mix of 50% 10-year old and 50% 20-year old whisky". So Compass Box had to modify how they were doing things, and you can now need to email them requesting the age details of their blends.

That said, they still publish plenty of detail on their whiskies, just not the actual ages. A quick look on their website will give you access to the typical recipes for each bottling, often also naming the actual distilleries involved, which for one reason or another is not something you see very often with blended whiskies. This 'Hedonism' bottling for example typically contains 66% grain whisky from Cameron Bridge Distillery, a massive Diageo-owned grain spirit plant located in Leven, and the remaining 34% grain whisky coming from Port Dundas, another massive Diageo-owned grain spirit plant located in Glasgow, which closed in 2011 and has since been demolished. The majority of this blended grain whisky was matured in first-fill ex-bourbon barrels, with a small component being matured in refill American oak hogsheads. It's also naturally coloured and non-chill filtered, which is great to see considering it's bottled at 'only' 43% rather than the more usual 46% ABV for a naturally presented whisky.

Personally, I'm not really a big fan of grain whiskies. I usually find them to be too light, both in texture and flavour, and often also too sweet for my tastes. Although they can be fantastic if aged for a long time in good casks. Truthfully I've only had a couple that actually impressed me, one of which was an oddball 27-year old cask strength Sauternes-finished single grain bottling from the SMWS (G8.7), and the others have been over 25 years of age. That said, I haven't tasted a Compass Box whisky that I haven't liked, so I have high hopes for this one. Let's give it a whirl.

Compass Box Hedonism, NAS, 43%. Blended Grain Scotch Whisky.

Make-up varies by batch but typically 66% single grain whisky from Cameron Bridge Distillery, 34% single grain whisky from Port Dundas Distillery. Mostly aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. Natural colour, non-chill filtered.

Colour: Pale gold / white wine. 

Nose: Light. Milk chocolate and dried  / desiccated coconut, reminiscent of a 'bounty' chocolate bar. A little sweet vanilla icing, and a hint of pencil shavings under the typical spirit-y acetone note found in most young grain whiskies. Becomes a little floral with more breathing time. 

Texture: Light & clean. Slight heat and raw spirit but not overly harsh. 

Taste: Grain spirit & acetone, not in a harsh way though. A little more pencil shavings & desiccated coconut, and there's chocolate again but it's more of a cocoa powder now. A bit of a let-down here after the nose, to be honest. 

Finish: Short. A little spirit heat initially. More acetone and coconut, hints of tropical fruit underneath. Mango nectar but without the thick texture. A little more cocoa powder too, and a touch of something a little bitter. 

Score: 2 out of 5.

Notes: Not undrinkable, but not really my cup of tea, and I probably wouldn't have named it after the pursuit of pleasure. I remember liking it more on the first try though, so maybe the sample has oxidised a little since then. It's definitely lighter now than I remember it being. That bounty bar chocolate & coconut note is very pleasant, in fact it's definitely the highlight of the whole experience. Still, it's nice to try something different every now and then, and re-assert my love for malt whisky... 

I still like what Compass Box are doing, and what they stand for. They're trying new & different things and they're being open about it, where permitted, and they're breaking new ground at generally reasonable prices. But for my tastes, at around $100 AUD, this one cannot compete with the single or blended malts that are around the same - or even a lower - price level. But if you're a fan of lighter, cleaner drams or perhaps even white spirits, this one will probably be more up your alley than it is mine. I do think it'd make for a nice summer's day dram though, or maybe even a highball. 

Cheers!

Highland Park Full Volume Whisky Review!

It's been a while since I reviewed a Highland Park, and - despite being a bit of an outlier - this just happens to be one of the best HP official bottlings that I've tried in a long time!

Why is this whisky an outlier? Because rather than the usual Highland Park maturation method of various types of Oloroso sherry cask (American or European oak, first-fill or refill etc.), Full Volume has been matured only in first-fill ex-bourbon casks. That might put some old-school Highland Park fans off, but it shouldn't, because this expression has been bottled at a higher strength than the vast majority of their official bottlings, which tend to be 40% or 43% ABV. Despite the name though, Full Volume has not been bottled at cask strength, but rather at the odd strength of 47.2%. So not really full volume, just a higher volume than normal! And although this whisky has been chill filtered, the details on the side of the outer box clearly state that it was filtered at 4 degrees Celsius, which is the upper limit for chill filtration. When was the last time you saw a distillery quote the temperature that a whisky was chilled down to prior to filtering? It certainly doesn't happen very often! With different temperatures and other factors like the grade of filter (fine or coarse) and pressure used, determining how much of the oils, fats & proteins are actually stripped from the whisky during chill filtration, this whisky is essentially less chill filtered than most chill filtered whiskies. But I do have to ask, since this whisky was bottled at over 46%, why bother chill filtering it at all? Why not just barrier filter it, keeping it a more natural product? Particularly when a few of Highland Park's many limited releases are already non-chill filtered. When a large number of distilleries are bottling most or all of their products without chill filtration these days, it seems an odd choice. Especially for a whisky named 'Full Volume'.

Speaking of which, that name is actually a reference to the electric instrument musician's skill at tweaking an amplifier and equaliser to avoid distortion, and achieve the desired tone and volume. Highland Park have drawn the comparison between this and the skill of their master blender when creating a whisky, and as you can see below they've gone all out with that theme on the whisky's packaging. The outer box represents an amplifier and equaliser, and there's even a set of tuning knobs on one side that are meant to give an idea of this whisky's profile, including a volume knob - also found on the bottle's front label - that is turned up to 11 in a nod to Spinal Tap (but it's not cask strength, remember). Something else that is a bit strange is a few of the details that are printed on the other side of that outer box. There you'll find information like the exclusive use of first-fill bourbon casks, and the sizes of those casks (200-litre barrels and 250-litre hogsheads), but also extra and rather unusual details like the exact number of casks in the vatting (a not insignificant 481), the exact filling dates of those casks (6 different days in mid-1999), and that those casks were "filled at strengths of between 63.6% and 63.7%". Kudos for adding more information than usual, but I really don't see why that's relevant, when the vast majority of whisky is filled into casks at 63.5%, and like I've mentioned once or twice already this isn't a cask strength whisky, so the filling strength back in 1999 has very little bearing on the final product. Maybe I'm nitpicking here but it does seem like an odd thing to mention, particularly right there on the side of the box! Likewise that number of casks, it's not exactly a small figure and means that this limited release can't really be that limited after all. Particularly since it was bottled two years ago and is still easy to source. But luckily the packaging does also state that this whisky is naturally coloured, and while this Highland Park doesn't exactly have an age statement, it does have a year of distillation, 1999, and a year of bottling, 2017, making this a 17-18 year old whisky.

Before we get into the whisky itself, let's have a quick recap on Highland Park. Owned by the Edrington group, the distillery is located in Kirkwall, on the 'mainland' of the Orkney islands north of the Scottish mainland, and has been there since 1798, although it's first license wasn't granted until 1826. They floor-malt a portion of their barley, and that portion is peated to around 20 ppm with local peat from Hobbister Moor on Orkney, which is largely comprised of heather. That floor-malted peated barley is then mixed with externally-sourced un-peated barley, usually at a mix of around 20% peated and 80% un-peated. After double-distillation in their four stills the distillery fills the majority of their 2.5 million litre annual output into Oloroso sherry-seasoned casks, with the rest going into ex-bourbon and a few other types. They also marry, or rest, each new vatting for at least a month before bottling, to allow the whiskies to "harmonise". I can't find any information on what vessel that happens in, so I'd presume it to be stainless steel vats, which of course is no bad thing for that purpose. Highland Park produce a massive range of expressions, and on their website you'll currently find a frankly ridiculous 39 different bottlings listed as their current range of single malts. Naturally some of those are old vintage bottlings, plus the standard core range of the 12 and 18-year olds, but there are also a huge number of non-age statement, marketing-heavy, viking-themed expressions with very little real information published that are, honestly, a little tiresome. In fact they're a little hard to keep up with, even in the age of the internet and social media. Making them even harder to keep up with is the fact that many of those are also travel retail (duty free) exclusive and/or are only sold in certain countries or regions, and on that note Full Volume was actually exclusive to the US when first launched, and is only sold in travel retail in Australia, and has only been available there for a year or so. It's priced at $129 AUD, which is quite reasonable for a 17-18 year old limited release whisky at a decent strength, but I can't help but wish that it was more widely available for those who don't frequently travel overseas. I know that most of the above sounds a little negative or even cynical, which is not really intentional, I'm just calling it as I see it. I'm still a fan of Highland Park's work, particularly when bottled at cask strength. But the main thing of course is that this is a tasty and good value whisky. So let's find out, shall we?

Highland Park Full Volume, 17-18 year old, 47.2%. Orkney, Scotland.
Distilled 1999, bottled 2017. Fully matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, lightly peated. Chill filtered at 4 degrees, natural colour. Travel exclusive in Australia.

Colour: Semi-pale gold.

Nose: Very nice! Vanilla custard, russian fudge (lighter style sweet fudge), lots of lemon peel and some dried apricot. That dry heathery peat is there, like burnt herbs, and a subtle hint of heather honey as well. Some lightly spicy charred wood (cinnamon & pepper), and a couple of dried apples in the distance.

Texture: Medium weight. Richly flavoured with a generous pinch of pepper, lightly waxy.

Taste: More wood spice and more dry heather-y peat, some beeswax (natural honeycomb with the honey drained out), and a bit of orange. Drier than I would've guessed from the nose, which wasn't massively sweet either in the scheme of things (not a criticism by any means). More burnt herbs (that peat showing itself again), and more lemon peel, plus that vanilla but it's vanilla paste here, and it's definitely drier to boot.

Finish: Medium length. More black pepper, vanilla paste, still-smoking burnt herbs and that floral heathery peat. But it's soft overall once that pepper note subsides, with more beeswax, fudge and lemon peel.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: Quite a tasty dram this! And definitely one of the best official bottlings of Highland Park that I've tasted in recent times. Plenty of flavour, and more peat is evident than in most HPs, particularly at this age level, which I'd say would be down to the ex-bourbon casks being a little less dominant than the sherry-seasoned ones that are HP's modus operandi (M.O.), and also the higher bottling strength. I'm digging that vanilla, lemon, heather & pepper combo too, it works very well and those flavours are nicely balanced, which of course is the whole premise behind this whisky, showing off the balancing skills of the blenders. And all the marketing and other little niggles aside, I think it does achieve that.

I can't help but wonder what this whisky would've been like at it's actual full volume (cask strength and completely non-chill filtered), but that would've put the price up, and it's pretty reasonable at the $129 AUD mark. Particularly when you consider that the asking price for the standard Highland Park 18-year old, which is only bottled at 43%, is $200-250 AUD these days. Which despite being a nice whisky is one of the most expensive 18-year old core range / standard official bottlings on the market at the moment. But then if Full Volume had been released to the general market rather than travel retail, that price would probably have increased. On the flip-side that doesn't make it particularly easy to get hold of a bottle, so it's a bit of a Catch-22. Definitely worth grabbing a bottle when you're next going through an international airport, though!

Cheers!

Hazelburn Rundlets & Kilderkins Whisky Review!

A cask strength, 10-year old, small cask-aged Hazelburn, and the third & final instalment in the Rundlets & Kilderkins releases. Bring on the (sexy) funk...

Hazelburn is the triple-distilled and un-peated spirit produced by Springbank Distillery in Campbeltown, named after the Hazelburn Distillery which closed in 1925. A few of the original distillery's buildings still stand, the majority of which now form a business park 300 metres down the road from Springbank. Hazelburn only makes up 10% of Springbank's annual production, while 80% goes to the namesake Springbank spirit which is lightly-peated and 2.5-times distilled, and the heavily-peated and double-distilled Longrow takes up the remaining 10%. Bear in mind that Springbank have a maximum annual production capacity of around 750,000-litres of spirit, a positively tiny amount compared to most operating Scottish distilleries, so there really isn't a lot of Hazelburn produced. There's also less spirit produced thanks to that triple distillation, where the un-peated wash is run through each of Springbank's three stills (pictured above) in series, starting with the direct-fired wash still, then the worm tub condenser-equipped first low wines still, and the shell & tube condenser-equipped second low wines still. Which means it's a lighter and more refined spirit, at a higher alcohol level with a spirit / heart cut average of 75% ABV when it leaves that third still. Triple distillation is associated more with Irish whiskeys these days, and only a few Scottish malt distilleries have dabbled in the practice, with Auchentoshan in the Lowlands being the only Scottish distillery to triple-distill the entirety of their production.

As a result of triple distillation and also the lack of peat used in the kilning of the applicable malted barley, Hazelburn tends to be a lighter, cleaner and more refined whisky than the Springbank and Longrow malts. So there's generally less Campbeltown "funk" to be found in these bottles, but if you play your cards right (cask strength required, in my experience) you'll still find it. Personally, and like many Springbank fans I suspect, I do tend to prefer Springbank & Longrow, so my experience with Hazelburn isn't on the same level, but I have had a couple of excellent expressions in the past. The winner so far was a refill Sauternes cask-matured Springbank Society bottling, which I'm not likely to ever come across again, unfortunately. It's hard to argue with the statement that the finished product tends to be less "Campbeltown-y" than the other Campbeltown malts (Kilkerran and Glen Scotia included), but it's still a Springbank, which means that everything other than growing the actual barley itself is done on-site. From malting, milling, fermenting, distilling, maturing and bottling, it all happens at the distillery. And for 100% of the distillery's production. Which is certainly not something you see everyday!

This particular Hazelburn is the third and final instalment in Springbank's Rundlet's & Kilderkins releases, following on from 2012's 10-year old Springbank release, and 2013's 11-year old Longrow release (reviewed here). A rundlet is a 68-litre (approx.) cask, and a kilderkin is an 82-litre cask, compared to the 200-, 250- and 500-litre casks commonly used for Scotch whisky maturation. Smaller casks equals more surface area contact equals more cask influence, so these whiskies tend to drink well beyond their modest age statements. This 10-year old Hazelburn (not to be confused with the regular 10-year old expression) was bottled at a cask strength of 50.1% ABV, and of course is non-chill filtered and naturally coloured like everything that comes out of Springbank's narrow driveways. While both the Springbank and Longrow releases consisted of 9,000 bottles apiece, there were 12,000 units of the Hazelburn released, which is a significant number, but I was nevertheless surprised to see this whisky still available in Australia here in mid-2019. Why? Because it was bottled over five years ago, way back in early 2014! It's still quite reasonably priced as well at around $165 AUD, and while Hazelburn doesn't quite have the cult following of the distillery's other two products, I can tell you now that it is a serious bargain. Get in quick folks, and tell them Peated Perfection sent you!

Hazelburn Rundlets & Kilderkins, 10-years old, 50.1%. Campbeltown, Scotland.
Un-peated triple-distilled single malt from Springbank Distillery. Fully matured in re-coopered 68-litre rundlet and 82-litre kilderkin casks. Cask strength, non-chill filtered, natural colour. 12,000 bottles, released 2014.

Colour: Gold.

Nose: Oily, lightly cheesy, slightly herbal & earthy. Olive oil, baked red apples, semi-sweet herbal honey. Some brine, damp earth (dunnage) and white pepper. Lemon oil, and some light fresh oak - reminds me of balsa wood. Some damp malt and a little marzipan with more breathing time.

Texture: Medium weight, oily & surprisingly savoury. A little peppery, but not in a harsh or overly spirit-y way.

Taste: More olive oil, more white pepper, and more light fresh oak. A lighter version of the classic Campbeltown "funk"as well, that damp earthy dunnage warehouse & old dusty farmyard / barn note. Dryer than the nose, not a sweet whisky by any means. Still has that lemon oil note in the background.
  Finish: Medium length. Getting quite dry here with more pepper and light oak, before that olive oil, lemon, baked apple and dunnage earthy-ness come through. Those apples are powdery now though. More clean olive oil and light brine to finish.

Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Notes: A very tasty dram, and probably the richest and most 'Campbeltown-y' Hazelburn that I've tasted to date. And also one of the best. It's definitely miles above the standard 10-year old, although at cask strength and with small casks involved that could be expected. Considering the relatively small jump in price over that entry-level bottling, and considering that this one was bottled over five years ago, it's a bit of a hidden gem. If you find Springbanks too funky and a little too wild for your tastes, give Hazelburn a try. And if you prefer a dryer, oily, richer style of malt then this Rundlets & Kilderkins is the one to go for. Personally it's not on the same level as the Longrow version, but since the base malts are so different that's probably just down to personal preference rather than overall quality.

Yet another tasty single malt from Campbeltown's finest, and a real bargain at the still-current pricing here in Australia. Just don't expect the remaining stocks to last long. It's still a hidden gem at the moment, but people are catching on to that sort of thing very quickly these days!

Cheers!