Port Charlotte 10 Years

e Port Charlotte 10 year old was conceived, distilled, aged, and bottled solely on Islay. By a young team with profound principles and the desire to create the finest “Islay” Islay whisky, Port Charlotte is “a whisky made by people, not software”.

This first release of Port Charlotte 10 year old replaces the multi-vintage Cuvee Scottish barley.

Port Charlotte 10 year old is an award-winning Islay Scotch named the top 4 in Whisky Advocate’s Top 20 Whiskies of 2018 and awarded Double Gold in the 2018 San Francisco Spirits Competition.

Bruichladdich’s flagship Port Charlotte expression was created in 2018. This primrose to citrine colour 10-year-old single malt from the Isle of Islay is smokey and heavily peated. It’s peated to 40ppm and is made from 100% Scottish barley and matured in oak barrels for ten years. Of this, 65% in American first-fill whiskey casks, 10% in American second-fill whiskey casks, and 25% in French second-fill vintage.

It is a rich, smoky, spicy whiskey with sweet malt overtones.

Port Charlotte enters the big league with this 10 year old permanent expression, bottled at 50% ABV, without chill filtration and colouring. It is a robust and tasty single malt that holds up well to a dash of water. This is an excellent product at a very affordable price in terms of its qualities.

Port Charlotte 10 Year Old is packaged in a new dumpy bottle with dark green glass and strongly embossed lettering on the back. It has an army-style vibe, appropriate for this sort of whisky. It appears much better in flesh than it does in images in any event.

The marine ozone character calms the smoke, and time has produced a balance, a harmony in the combination of oak, smoke, and spirit. While the smoke is always detectable on the nose, the style is dry, earthy, and peaty, allowing the oak to shine through with waves of golden caramel, fudge, vanilla custard, and hints of ginger, nutmeg, and clove.

A citrus fruit gently coaxed from the glass with a drop of water, lemon meringue, and clementine. Breathe deeply, and you’ll be transported to the Atlantic coast by the floral aromas of wild thyme, heather, and sea pink.

The palate has a distinct delicacy and softness in texture and style. Once again, the flavour balance is exquisite, with the smoke wrapping loosely around the sweetness extracted from deep inside the oak. Coconut, vanilla custard, lemon honey, smoked oysters, and sun-baked salty sand are a mix in this delicacy.

The finish is sublime, smokey to be sure, and the delicate sweetness of fudge and malted barley, orange, mango, and Banoffee pie hints at the depth and quality of the oak. With each sip, the numerous layers change. The flavours of the spirit, ripe apple, and apricot, nicely intertwined with malt and oak sweetness and that classic Port Charlotte style dry smoke, come and go as the smoke develops.

This spirit has changed significantly after spending ten years on the shores of Loch Indaal. This Port Charlotte 10 provides clarity and lightens the mood, inviting and brightening the future like sunshine on a winter day.

Food Pairing

Port Charlotte 10 Year old is best paired with chocolate. The whiskey complemented the sweetness and smokiness, while the red miso extended its savouriness, finishing with a round nuttiness from the almond.

This whisky is also best paired with a burger. The whisky washed down the juicy patties with their respective sauces, giving each bite that distinct BBQ smokiness paired with the heady 50% ABV heat from the Scotch, making the overall experience even more memorable, particularly when you’re hungry.