Port Charlotte – Round 2 (Part 2)

Link to part 1
Here is the second part of my tasting dedicated to making me forget about wine cask Bruichladdich/PC. For the moment, it works pretty well, let’s see if continues that way.

Port Charlotte 16yo 2001-2017 (59.7%, Archives, Barrel, cask #278, 218 bottles)

Colour: Gold.
Nose : Lemons, citruses, ananas, mangoes, tar and some farmy notes too.
Mouth: The alcohol is perfectly integrated. A lot of lemons, farmy peat and wood smoke. Then it evolves into some mineral notes and then finally in some pepper and brine at the end of the mouth. Nice complexity!
Finish: Long. It starts off with lemons, pepper and sea salt dropped all over the mix then the flavours completely fades and some mineral notes appears, drying your mouth.

That’s really a good selection. It’s not my favorite profile but it’s still remarkable.

Score: 90

Port Charlotte 2001-2013 (59.2%, Malts of Scotland, Warehouse Dram No.1, cask #MoS 13042, 145 bottles)

Colour: Deep gold.
Nose : It’s quite coastal at first with some brine and sea salt but then come some sherry markers in a perfectly balanced way. Leather, orange zests, candied oranges and finally some hints of peat and meat in the background. (It seems to be honey glazed meat! )
Can’t wait to taste it now!
Mouth: The alcohol integration is really good. It’s oily, even creamy, it’s literally coating your mouth. It’s pretty complex and evolving. First you have the austere side with ashes, wood smoke, tannins and dark chocolate and then it evolves into a coastal sweet side with oranges, lemons, brine, spices and some gentle peat.
Finish: Very long. Lemons, oranges and brine first and then it completely fades away, letting some free space for tannins, orange peel and dark chocolate to come and lasts nearly forever.

Wow, that one is a stunner for sure! The perfect balance and the complexity of this profile make it one of the best PC I ever tasted!

Score: 91

Bruichladdich 19 yo 1988-2007 (58.5%, OB, Valinch The Mayor of Islay, sherry cask, cask #1184, 375 bottles)

Colour: Deep gold.
Nose: Alcohol is present and quite intrusive. A lot of apricots, orange peels, berries and some really appreciable acidity.
Mouth: The alcohol integration is not really good. Apricots, plums, leather, honey with hints of salt. The initial sweetness evolves slowly into a little dryness.
Finish: Mid-Long. Apricots, orange zests, alcohol and tannins which adds some lovely dryness tho this finish.

This one is not bad but clearly not as brilliant as the other five bottles I tasted. What a shame given it’s the oldest one.

Score: 87

That was a really good batch of Bruichladdich/PC to be honest! It makes me forget about the wine cask, good job! I’m finally sure that the best bottlings from Bruichladdich I tasted are not from wine cask. It’s just my opinion though.