Port Charlotte 10 Year

After discovering Bruichladdich's excellent unpeated single malt, I decided to try the newest member of their core expressions, Port Charlotte 10 Year. This is a heavily peated whiskey aged in first and second fill American Whiskey, and 2nd fill French Wine Casks. Bottle at 100proof with no color and non-chill filtered. Sampled neat in a Glencairn... APPEARANCE: Pours from the great looking dark green embossed glass bottle light straw colored. Thick and oily, it took forever to form small, slow moving legs. NOSE: Intense and complex. Smoky, earthy peat. Only slight chemical notes. You get Smoked Meat, Seabreeze, Honeycomb, lots and lots of Wine. A hint of custard-like sweetness and lemon peel. There is a definite hit of alcohol from the 100 proof. NEAT: Intense flavors. The first sip is Salty and Smoky, like a smoked oyster. It has a slick and oily mouthfeel. Subsequent sips add Lemon Zest, "Wine-y" sweetness (at times almost like it's wine infused), Vanilla Custard, and a minty-like tingle on the tongue. A little on the hot side. Port Charlotte boasts A LOT of peat. How they manage to get the intense peat notes to play a supporting role instead of starring is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, it's peaty, but the peat takes a backseat to the sweeter "wine-y" notes. The finish coats with a slightly chemical/menthol-like soot. There is almost an effervescent quality as the tongue continues to tingle. SPLASH: A Healthy splash tames some of the heat on the nose and accents the Citrus quality. It helps with the heat on the palate as well. Allows the wine-y sweetness to shine even more. VERDICT: This whisky, to my rather primitive palate, is expertly crafted. I think that it may be the most heavily peated scotch I've had, but it doesn't seem that way, if that makes any sense at all. It's very intense peat, but it's hanging out in the back of the class waving it's arms to be noticed. I waited until my 3rd sampling to leave a review, and I have liked it more with each try. An almost perfect balance of salty/savory and sweet/fruity. Price-wise it's $10 more than the Lap10 in my area. I'm not sure I like it more than the Lap10, but it is at the very least it's equal. A beautiful peat experience.

Nice amount of smoke. Smooth with a decently long finish. Little sweetness.