Oldest Port Charlotte
The ever-popular Bruichladdich distillery has just announced news of the release of a new whisky. It's about the 18-year-old, the oldest peated Port Charlotte edition to date.
Port Charlotte 18yo (54.3 vol.) is a strongly peated whisky, made with barley malt smoked to a level of 40 ppm. This malt was made from 100% Scottish barley, grown on the mainland, and distilled in 2004. The whisky was matured in two types of barrels - 74% in sherry refill barrels, and 26% in French oak barrels, seasoned with French wine. In keeping with the philosophy of attachment to the place of production, this whisky was entirely created, matured and bottled on the island of Islay.
We're talking about an edition limited to 6,000 bottles, most of which will be available for purchase at the distillery's store and through Bruichladdich's online store, and only a small portion at selected specialty stores. The purchase of a single bottle involves an expenditure of £175.
According to the manufacturer's description, this whisky is expected to offer notes of dried fruits, figs, dates, raisins, mild smoke, tobacco, roasted heather, toffee and sea accents in its aroma. In the taste we can expect sweetness and fruit, mixed with notes of dried dark fruits and chocolate. Spices in the form of cinnamon, nutmeg and gingerbread notes complement accents of citrus, toffee, honey, smoky cereal, butterscotch rolls, popcorn and salted caramel. On the finish expect spices, leather, slight touches of nuts, sea saltiness, finishing with a lingering feeling of peaty smokiness.
For many years, the Bruichladdich distillery was famous for producing a mild, peat-free beverage on an island boasting strongly smoky and peaty whiskies, in opposition to the local trend, as it were. Only after the reactivation in 2001, in parallel with the production of the traditional Bruichladdich, the first churnings of the strongly peaty Port Charlotte were started. The new whisky is named after a nearby village that once housed a distillery of the same name. For some time, Bruichladdich considered the possibility of starting a second distillery there, which would specialize in peated whisky. However, this idea was eventually abandoned, while at the same time expanding the range of whiskies produced in Bruichladdich to include not only Port Charlotte (40 ppm), but also Octomore, smoked to unprecedented levels, whose production began in 2002.
The current offerings of the House of Whisky Online include a wide range of whiskies from the Bruichladdich distillery, of which Port Charlotte i Octomore, as well as editions from independent distributors, as well as those bottled by the previous owner, before the distillery was sold to Murray McDavid in 2000. Please visit.
[29.02.2024 / photo: Bruichladdich]