Port Charlotte Scottish Barley

The nose is a little sharp, but full of sweet fruit, honey and cereal sugar. Maybe a little lemon and then a wisp of smoke and a fair amount of salty peat. The palate is youthful, spicy with vanilla, honey, and light apple or sweet apple. The palate has more peat for me than the nose but also carries a little salt and some bitterness. It coats very nicely and has me trying smaller tastes to just enjoy that feeling. The finish is smoke, peat, char, and then some sweet sugar. This is a solid scotch, but it did not live up to my expectations. With age to take off the sharpness in the nose and the bitterness in the finish, this would be exceptional.

Peat and smoke on the nose. The same on the taste, but as for me a little bit hard to swallow 50 abv. Good example of a real islay scotch.

Part three of the Wee Laddie tasting set. The third and final whisky in the Bruichladdich tasting set is the Port Charlotte Islay Barley. For those of you who may not be all too familiar with Bruichladdich, let me break it down for you. The Bruichladdich distillery produces 3 different lines of scotch whisky. Anything that is strictly Bruichladdich is unpeated, Port Charlotte is heavily peated, and Octomore (which sadly is not included in this set) is super heavily peated. Just think of it like Ford Motor Company circa 2000. They had 3 brands, all made by Ford. Bruichladdich would be Ford, Port Charlotte would be Mercury, and Octomore would be Lincoln. But I digress. So back to the whisky. This Port Charlotte has been peated to a level of 40ppm, is bottled at 50% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of yellow gold. Sweet, peat, and sweet peat on the nose. Lemon citrus, almonds and almond butter. A big hit of smoky, vinegary BBQ sauce, BBQ ribs and smoked fish, salmon mostly. Fairly salty, maritime/sea air and green olives. A touch medicinal with iodine, but nowhere near Laphroaigian levels. Vanilla, grilled apricots and nectarines, a definite sweetness behind all the smoke. Barley sugar, yellow apples, fruit/spice cake, butterscotch and toffee. A slight minerality and some sawdust. Floral notes with dry grass and a hint of red wine. So far this is the best nose of the 3. The palate is strong and peppery, youthful. Peaty, smoky, ashy, charred oak pulled from a bonfire and doused with sea water and damp earth. Slightly fruity - apricots mostly with some light lemon. Heat at times, not too complex, mostly those peaty notes. Green oak, medicinal and barley sugar. Caramelized/burnt sugar, cinnamon, ginger and graham crackers. A medium to full bodied mouthfeel that is creamy, mouthwatering and mouth coating. The finish is long, peaty, ashy, slightly fruity - mostly lemon, and dry. I think this one edged out the Classic Laddie for the top spot in the tasting set. It might not be quite as nuanced, especially in the palate, but the peat adds a much needed contrast to the overly malty profile of both the Laddie and the Islay Barley. Still, for my money I’d rather buy a Laphroaig or Ardbeg if I wanted to go with heavy peat. A solid 4 though. Cheers

Peat for sure. Citrusy Brininess with mellow sweetness beneath

Anyone who has read my reviews knows I adore peated scotch so not a surprise I love this. Poured neat, this is very similar to the Classic Laddie(see review)from nose to finish but has added a heavy dose of wonderful smoldering peat smoke. Its a bit younger and not quite as refined with some sizzle but I care not. If its a Bruichladdich product Im in!.........92/100.......awesome scotch leading me to seek out the octomore and the other PC options..........Got this on sale for $33 on closeout!