My friend, Secret Agent Man, says Port Charlotte single malt "smells like a lobster fisherman's sweaty ass crack." And I say, "Yes. That is why I love it so."
How much do I love it? 24 new reviews worth. But not all at once this time. More on that later.
MOSTLY FACTS
Port Charlotte is an actual place, a port town on Loch Indaal, near the Rhinns of Islay on the western side of the island. A distillery, first called Port Charlotte, later Lochindaal, produced malt there for 100 years until DCL (a.k.a. Proto-Diageo; a.k.a Distillery-Destroyer and Occasional Whisky-Maker) closed it in 1929.
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Bruichladdich distillery, built two miles down the road in 1881, was shuttered in 1995 only to be bought and reopened by Murray McDavid five years later. The 40ppm-peated Port Charlotte malt had its first still run at Bruichladdich distillery in 2001. PC5, a 5 year old 63.5%abv fire-starter, arrived in 2006, starting off the official Port Charlotte releases. Independent bottlings began in 2007, and the first official ten year old appeared in 2012. Remy Cointreau bought Bruichladdich and its three whisky brands — Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte and Octomore — in 2013.
MOSTLY OPINIONS
Bruichladdich's Octomore has the record-breaking peat levels and distinct bottle design. It's a graceful behemoth when done well; e.g. the early .1s, the .3s, and the first 10 year old. Port Charlotte's single malt has one-fifth to one-third of the peat levels of Octomore, yet it is the more brutalist malt. It can be strange, jagged and stark, conjuring images of concrete and steel. Or maybe that's just happens inside my brain.
Bruichladdich's unpeated malt can be a bit wonky, sometimes cheesy and milky in a way that doesn't seem quite right. Adding a generous helping of peaty PPMs to the mix creates something different than most (or all) Islay malts, and improves upon the standard Bruichladdich style, in my opinion.
SWEETHEARTS
Much like Kilchoman (the previous cluster malt), Port Charlotte is part of that distinctive batch of new whiskies (which also include Kilkerran and Arran) that first appeared on the market when many of us were new to single malt mania. As a result, those four malts have had a special place in my whisky heart for over a decade. My preferred Arrans are in the 10-14 year old range, while the Work in Progress series has produced my favorite Kilkerrans. Kilchoman's progression is a mixed bag, as I discovered in the Kilchoman cluster, which I will link to again right here. Their current sherry cask releases can be very good, the 100% Islays seem to be improving, but I've found the standard bourbon cask bottlings to be slipping considerably.
THE CLUSTER SHAPE
Now I plan to complete 24 Port Charlotte whisky reviews for your very eyes. That's a lot of Port Charlotte to subject you to. And a lot for me drink.
A few of the Kilchoman Cluster weeks turned out to be less fun than I'd anticipated because the whisky's style was occasionally not varied or interesting enough, which put my Whisky Attention Deficit Disorder to the test. Rather than blanketing this space with nothing but PC for at least two months, there are a few other interesting whiskies I'd like to share with you. So I'm going to change the structure of this cluster:
The first and last weeks of this series will be 100% Port Charlotte. All the weeks in between will have non-Port Charlotte content of some sort. Also, the Taste Offs will be single posts rather than stretching them out across multiple days. AND, I may blow up this whole approach if it doesn't work. But don't worry, we'll make it.
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| from Barnard's The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom |
