Hello, I’m back!
I’ve had some other commitments recently so didn’t have the time to publish a review last week. I’ll make it up to myself though and post two reviews in the same week in the near future. This time, I’m reviewing a single malt scotch that introduced me to the world of peated whisky; Port Charlotte 10.
I first tried Port Charlotte 10 at a whisky tasting evening alongside five other Burns Night bad boys. It was a whisky evening themed around whisky from the locations that were important to Robert Burns, the Scottish poet. I remember not being particularly serious about scotch at the time so I didn’t take much away from the night, other than I liked Arran 10, and a headache the next morning (which may or may not have been due to the many pints of Guinness that followed…). I really did like Arran 10 that night, but since – I just haven’t got on with it, but I digress. I’ll tackle it in a future review! Focus focus focus on Port Charlotte for now.
Anyway, where was I? Ah yes…
I do remember that more seasoned drinkers in the room remarked that the Port Charlotte 10 was their favourite dram of the night. I didn’t wholly disagree with them, I just thought that it was okay.
“What’s the peaty bit?” I think I remember asking my friend. “It’s the bit that tastes like TCP” was his reply. Ah. “Yeah… it’s alright…”
The second time I tried it was around a month later and I was a few pints deep. I was showing off my new found knowledge of good whisky to a different friend. Yes, I have at least two friends believe it or not. It was at an expensive local bar and it cost me around £16 for two singles; one for me and one for him. I was transfixed. I finally got it. The peaty goodness had grabbed me this time. Port Charlotte smashed my tongue to bits with its 50% ABV and once the numbness subsided, the medicinal tar stayed behind.
Bruichladdich are a distillery on Islay and they are now owned by Rémy Cointreau. The Bruichladdich distillery is located around 2 miles north of the coastal village of Port Charlotte. The Bruichladdich distillery distils, shock, Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and the very expensive Octomore. The whisky is progressively more strongly peated in that order; Bruichladdich (not peated), Port Charlotte (peated around 40 parts per million) and Octomore (peated up to a whopping 300+ parts per million). I’ve never tried Octomore, and at £140+ a bottle, I won’t be any time soon! I’m impressed by Bruichladdich – Rémy Cointreau seemingly leave them to somewhat continue to build upon what they are famous for. They are a forward thinking distillery, who are very transparent in their processes. They actively try to lower their unnecessary waste with the Bruichladdich cardboard bottles, are a listed B Corp, and they don’t add any colouring to their spirit or perform any chill-filtering.
So, we know that Port Charlotte 10 is bottled at 50% ABV, and we know that there is no added colouring and it hasn’t been chill-filtered. At 50%, this bottle of Port Charlotte 10 is the strongest ABV I’ve reviewed so far. I’ll be adding two or three drops of water to my dram to open up the flavours after the first couple of sips.
NOSE: Before any water: Instantly peaty. Very smoky and slightly medicinal. Salty – even green olive. There’s a subtle sweetness, but it isn’t syrupy… it’s an unclear rich berry – very fresh and on the top. There’s a hint of grass in there too.
After water: flame grilled beef – the original aromas are all still present too.
TASTE: Before any water: The aromas translate very well to the taste. The peat is definitely centre stage, but it’s complex. It’s smoky but gives way to the taste of TCP. The sweetness on the top isn’t translating strongly, but the body of the berry is present, just slightly tart. The grass continues throughout the finish dancing with the peat and the berry lasting an impressive 12 seconds or so.
After water: Similar to the post-water nose. The original flavours all remain – the peat does die a little quicker and doesn’t pack as much of an initial punch, but mainly the berry sweetness is a touch more prominent when the water is added.
SUMMARY: It’s a lovely scotch, but slightly too bitter for my palate. Even when water is added, the sweetness doesn’t elevate to the point of it balancing out the bitterness. It lacks a vanilla/cream/syrupy body that I tend to enjoy in scotch and I find it can help balance out any rough edges. I think it would benefit from a more balanced, complementing flavour profile.
6/10
You can read my other reviews here.
