Port Charlotte 10 Year
One topic that you see come up in whisky circles every now and then is the question of which distilleries or expressions that are in production today will be looked back upon as classics in the future. Whisky at its peak, here and now. It doesn’t really come up enough in my opinion, although that could be because there aren’t all that many whiskies that fit the description. It’s much more common to talk about the whiskies that aren’t what they used to be. Distilleries that have cashed in and are simply selling product off of past reputation and current marketing. There are certainly a few that fit that category, unfortunately (a few Edrington Group distilleries immediately come to mind).
Yes there’s plenty of doom and gloom about how whisky isn’t what it used to be, and while that’s certainly true in many cases, there are nonetheless modern classics sitting on the shelf of your friendly neighborhood liquor store that are at their peak today. Distilleries that are making better whisky right now than they ever have before. Deanston is a particularly good example.
I’m not one to gush over every bottle of whisky I buy, taste, or review. I’m happy to criticize a whisky, and love to talk about how certain whiskies suck. Dalmore, for instance. What crap whisky that is. Jura too. And Bowmore. I could go on. Today, however, I’m going to gush. At least a little. Today I’m going to sound like a fanboy. Let me sing praise like a bright eyed Millenial who just had his first profound whisky experience. Let me celebrate this whisky, and sing this whisky! Oh Muse, sing in me, and through me tell the story of this dram! Today, you see, I’m reviewing what I think may very well go down as a true modern classic. A relatively young and reasonably priced whisky that in a decade or two from now we may all long to experience again, that we may all regret taking for granted while it still sat readily available on the shelf. The whisky? It’s the brand new Port Charlotte Heavily Peated 10 year old from Bruichladdich.
Port Charlotte is the peated line of whiskies produced by Bruichladdich (Octomore is also a peated line from Bruichladdich, but it is of the super heavily peated variety, whereas Port Charlotte is closer to the standard level of Islay peat). There have been previous versions of Port Charlotte 10 in the past, but this particular PC10 was redesigned and relaunched in 2018—as was the entire Port Charlotte range. It just recently became available in the US, although in seemingly limited quantities. The 10 year is now supposedly a permanent edition to the range, not a limited edition like previous versions (god, I hope that proves to be true). It was aged in a combination of 65% first-fill American whiskey casks, 10% second-fill American whiskey casks, and 25% second-fill French wine casks. The American whiskey casks used are apparently from Jack Daniel’s (hence the label of “American whiskey” rather than bourbon, even though Jack is bourbon—yes, it is, get over it).
Port Charlotte 10 Review
Type: Single Malt Scotch
Region: Islay
Age: 10 years
ABV: 50%
Non chill-filtered
Natural color
Nose
Iodine. Sea breeze and coastal air. Some peat, but really not as much as expected, although the longer you let the whisky sit in a glass, the more prominent the peat smoke becomes. Vanilla mint. Peppermint. Lots of mint. Sweet cream. Salt and brine. Motor oil. Tar. Linseed oil. Lemon zest. Slightly floral, with notes of lilac and lavender. Very complex, very enjoyable.
Palate
Moderate peat smoke, extraordinarily well balanced and somewhat soft. Malty. Motor oil and a touch of tar. Coffee beans. Vanilla. Impressively fruity, with a burst of lemons, pears, bananas, papayas, and soursop. Sweet tea. A bit of minty menthol, but not as much as the nose. Rich and a little sweet, but not too sweet. Easy drinking for the ABV. Oily and creamy mouthfeel, coats the mouth nicely. Wonderfully oily. God that oiliness. Exquisite.
Finish
Long and fresh. The mint from the nose mostly skipped the palate but returns with a vengeance on the finish in the form of menthol and eucalyptus. Earl Gray tea. Peat smoke, perhaps more so here than on the nose or palate. Fresh. Green. Iced coffee. Really quite an incredible finish, perhaps the best aspect of this malt, which is really saying something considering how good the nose and palate are. One of the best finishes I’ve ever experienced, insanely complex and unique.
Overall
Holy fuck, this is great. Seriously, I can’t say enough good things about this dram. It’s everything I want in a peated whisky. So well balanced. So complex. So oily. So good. The peat smoke is perfectly integrated with the rest of the malt and the oak it’s aged in. I can’t stop drinking this. Really, I’ve barely touched anything else in my whisky collection since I first bought a bottle a few weeks ago (and I’m now into bottle number two). This is THE quintessential 10 year old Islay whisky being made today, in my opinion. I’m absolutely smitten.
I truly believe that when we look back to the late 2010s in a decade or two from now, this will be a whisky we remember as being at the height of its powers. We will miss this whisky dearly should it ever disappear or diminish in quality. Not to say that Bruichladdich can’t improve upon it. There’s always room for improvement, although not much room in this case. I hope that PC10 will remain this amazing (or get even better) for the next decade, but we all know that nice things in the whisky world often don’t last, especially here in the current whisky boom. But who knows, Bruichladdich is making great whisky, the best whisky on Islay in my opinion. If anyone can keep up such a high standard, Bruichladdich can. Here’s to hoping PC10 can stay this good indefinitely, forever and ever.
Since I switched to a 10 point scoring system and went back and reassigned scores out of 10 to my old reviews (which you can see on my review archive page), I’ve only given out scores of 9 or higher six times before now. That’s six out of 88 whiskies reviewed. Make it seven.
SCORE: 9/10
Final Thoughts
Compared to other similarly aged, entry level peated Islay whiskies, well, there is no comparison. Port Charlotte 10 is better than Ardbeg 10 or Lagavulin 8, both of which are very good drams. Better than any sub-$100 Kilchoman I’ve tried. Better than the excellent and underrated Caol Ila 12. It blows away anything and everything in Laphroaig’s current lineup. Hell, it’s better than Corryvreckan, and I love Corryvrecken. The new PC10 is just so shockingly good. I don’t know how a 10 year old scotch whisky could possibly be better than this.
Last week I hosted a Burns Night whisky tasting with a few friends. We had a killer lineup. There was a Rosebank. Several well aged, Sherry matured Ben Nevis bottles (my true love). A single cask Longrow. Some 25 year olds from Talisker and Glenallachie. A 1983 Balblair. And several other heavy hitters. Port Charlotte 10 was easily the least expensive whisky in the lineup, yet it held its own. It felt like it belonged amongst very expensive, rare, old bottles. It’s just bonkers how good this stuff is for the age and price. (That Balblair 1983 though… that’s some next level whisky—expensive, but worth every penny if you can afford it. Hopefully more on that in a future review, once I find a bottle for myself.)
Buying Advice: If you enjoy peated whisky and you see a bottle of PC10 on the shelf, don’t hesitate. Unless you happen to live in Nashville, TN, in which case, please don’t buy this whisky so that I can have it all. It’s just so damn good, especially for the price (about $65). I’ve already bought three bottles for myself. Seriously, I never do that, but I’m putting my money where my score is on this one and stocking up while I can.
Questions about my scoring system? Refer to the Review Method & Scoring Scale page.
For more reviews, check out the Whisky Review Archive.
