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Port Charlotte 10 Year
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed
January 31, 2019 (edited October 21, 2024)
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.
65.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@SolanaRoots That’s a tough call. I guess it depends on the mood and environment at the time. Springbank 15 is a favorite yet Ardbeg provides another experience altogether. Not really sure. You can’t go wrong with either. I know it’s a middle of the road answer....
@Soba45 Nice call. Talisker 10 is my second fave 10 year. Not sure which version I had most recently. More incentive to pick up another bottle
Great review. Added to my 'next buy' list :-)
@SolanaRoots Talisker 10 and that was based on the lower abv version. I can't wait to try the 45.8% version
@Scott_E Preference in Ardbeg 10 vs Springbank 10?
@PBMichiganWolverine Between the two Ardbeg and PC, I agree, Ardbeg. I sampled the PC. I thought it good but, from the small sample, wasn’t blown away. In fairness, I need to get a sizeable sample and some time for the PC.
If someone told me the only two whiskies I could ever drink again were Lap10 and Henry Mckenna 10, I'd be perfectly fine with that. Between the two? Give me the Lap10
@SolanaRoots ooooh. That’s tough. I may have to say Talisker then.
@deuce26 Good calls. But my question was for favorites of any 10 year age statement whisky - any style, any country...
@SolanaRoots If we are talking Islay I have to go with Laphroaig 10. Especially the cask strength version. Definitely give the nod to Laphroaig over Ardbeg on the 10’s. Now Uigeadail is a different story. Love it.
@SolanaRoots yup. Hands down ...and I vehemently stand by while clutching my Ardbeg 10 😊
@PBMichiganWolverine Nice...’hands down’ is a big claim though ;) Springbank 10 Year for me is the front runner
@SolanaRoots Hands down....Ardbeg 10.
@PBMichiganWolverine What’s your fave 10 yr whisky?
I actually preferred it over the Ardbeg10.
@Slainte-Mhath on par with Ardbeg 10 is quite a complement. I need to try this
It's a great Islay malt, and I am glad that they discontinued their NAS expression for this. I found it on par with Ardbeg 10, and bought a bottle just recently.