Port Charlotte Scottish Barley

The name pretty much says it all: Heavily Peated. Now, if you’re like me and love peated whiskies, then you’ll love this offering from Bruichladdich. The standard Bruichladdich is unpeated, which allows full access for the sea salt notes and earthiness and fruit to come through. This isn’t that. The peat is quite strong and subdues any other flavors. Now I will say that if you have the “Classic Laddie” before trying this, you will pick up a lot of the underlying notes in the Port Charlotte. And once you do that you’ll always be able to spot them which makes this whisky better. So the fruitiness is there if you look for it and the nose has this floral sweetness that is nice. Now, when you heavily peat a whisky, you better know what you’re doing and Bruichladdich definitely does. For anyone who loves Islay whiskies knows that each distillery offered a different smoke profile in their whiskies. In this heavily peated whisky, Bruichladdich seamed to capture the essence of each one. You get that bright campfire smoke from Ardbeg and Laphroaig, hearty and sweet peatiness from Lagavulin and Caol Ila, a fruity smoke from Bowmore, and a youthful herbaceous smoke from Kilchoman. This whisky truly does capture the peatiness of all Islay whiskies while throwing in some of its own flare in the fruity undertones.

Nose: smoky bacon, honey, apple, butter Taste: smoke, some medicinal but not terrible - maybe I’m just a novice with the smoke but it’s overpowering anything else so I’m not finding notable sweetness Finish: smoke, dry After reading review: I was so focused on the smoke, I overlooked the salt/brine - it’s there throughout. Can’t find any of the vanilla sweetness referenced though.

Port Charlotte Scottish Barley, Islay, 91 pts. Doesn’t seem heavily peated, floral, bit of butterscotch, fairly dry, not a lot of depth, but a nice drinker. (A new bottle, as I couldn’t resist the 20% off).

as peaty as the barley, but with more wildness.

Port Charlotte GOES FOREVER!! Amazing value for the cost. So many distinctive aromas and tastes just folding out one after the other, try to keep up with this complex, fast moving whisky. On the nose; Smoke for days. Brown sugar basted Smokey beef. Oxidised copper pot. There’s a strong musty smell of old books and leather too. Aroma has a strange sweetness you get from raw beef. New car leather seats late in aroma Strange sweet nappy (not used) smell. Epoxy resin Sour worm lollies Taste; sweet smoke! A little of the iodine smokiness and salt but mostly bbq/cured meat and a little cool ash like a cold fireplace. Dried figs. Super smooth finish with lingering oily smoke. Freshness of lightly hopped larger Fresh stevia leaf Honey dew melon Apple mint then spearmint Floral coconut bush