Port Charlotte lies two miles south of Bruichladdich facing Loch Indaal and is named after the distillery’s peatier whiskies. The Port Charlotte 10 year is a recent addition to the stable of offerings. The barley used is from the Shire of Inverness, Scotland’s largest county, which covers parts of the northern Highlands and the Outer Hebrides. Even the casking is particular, with 75% of the maturation happening in first or second fill American whisky casks, and with 25% coming from second fill French wine casks. We assume that since the website does not list the exact American whiskies or French wines, it must mean there are many potential options and thus would be impossible to list for a uniform bottling expression.
Distillery: Bruichladdich
Region: Islay
Age: 10 years
Strength: 50%
Price: $74.99
Location: Port Charlotte
Nose: Honey, smoke, salt, chocolate, peach, sour cherry, tobacco
Palate: Peat, licorice, wintergreen
Finish: Peat, smoke
Comments: Recommended to let sit a while to oxidize. A few drops of water can help open the palate up also.
Adam – Some time and slightly higher alcohol content gives the nose on this a big bloom, the expected smoke and salt dancing a little with some light fruit and sweetness around the edges. The sweet aspect of the peat in particular can give a sense of wintergreen or licorice. While not a scotch of a bouquet of elements, there are enough there like a halo around the core characteristics. Those edge elements can change a little over time or even in between sips sometimes if you’re not paying attention, catching you by surprise. But it’s those ephemeral aspects that keep me coming back to the Port Charlotte 10, especially since they help brighten up a naturally muted palate, especially if drink immediately after pouring a glass. Let this one sit with you a bit while you attend to other things. If you can, try to taste this with other Bruichladdich or Port Charlotte offerings to explore the nuances of difference. You’ll be rewarded.
Jenny – A lot of peat and smoke on the nose. It smells like it’s going to be one of those whiskies that warms you all the way down until it hits your bellow. It smells hot and is hot. It’s so hot that it’s hard for me to much else out of it honestly. It does warm you from the inside out, which is pleasant on a Minnesota winter evening. It has more of a medicinal aftertaste, like I just finished a cough drop.
Meghan – As I was doing some other things first, my dram sat for a bit before I could pay it the necessary attention. The Port Charlotte 10 benefits from sitting for some time, especially in terms of the nose. I picked up a definite note of chocolate, followed by sour cherry and peach fruitiness. There was also an undertone of tobacco and menthol (not to be confused with mentholed tobacco). At 50%, this whisky shows its alcohol content more than others with a higher ABV. There was some fruit punch like fruit flavor when unwatered but the alcohol heat was really too overpowering for me to get much else. With water, the fruit flavors were dampened but a sugary sweetness, like powdered sugar, was brought out in the forefront. Flavors of grain and peat appeared mid-palate. Nothing stood out in the finish, just peat and warmth. This ended up being one where I liked the nose (unwatered) much more than the actual whisky. However, Port Charlotte and Bruichladdich just haven’t been whiskies that do much for me. I know I am the outlier in the group on these most often, which is often why I hold my tongue when whether we should do another one comes up, but it seems that they are never going to be my favorite or probably even in my top 10. There is definitely nothing wrong with Bruichladdich’s offerings but they just aren’t really my cup of tea.
Michael – The Port Charlotte 10 is an aggressive whiskey with bold flavors. The high alcohol amplifies each note. Like a rock concert it’s intense and edgy but perhaps a little less dynamic.
Like a rock concert it’s intense and edgy but perhaps a little less dynamic.
Peter – The heat just holds on. Down below that, there’s this lovely brown sugar taste that just lulls you. You might not think it’d be soothing and nice because of the heat, but it is. I get a lot of brown sugar.
Mary-Fred – An evening of sun dry, low tide. Definitely an inter-tidal zone, coastal sense to this one. A sweet evening dram. Just lovely. This has a gentle nuance.
Ben – Like the shadows when you walk into a seaside bar. Strong notes of freshly opened molasses on the nose.
Henry – The first thing I’m noticing on the nose is the honey. Something almost like a wintergreen candy. A gulp gives a big, assertive mouthfeel going right to the nose. The peat turns to wintergreen, the sweetness and the peat. Like wintergreen gum. The finish is very candied. The smoke on the palate, with a little oak on the finish too. A juicy, lingering finish. It has a belly, a sense of landing on my tongue with a potbelly of flavor. Sweet and smoky and yum.
